UC-NRLF, 


$B    2^7    7bT 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

University  of  California. 


GIFT  OF 


..siKAAX^AA^ SUUA,AV<A 3;-*AJ[r......9.^W't.<^«^^ 


Class 


Vi 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/christianscienceOOkimbrich 


1 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE 
AND    LEGISLATION 


\  OF 


0^^ 


$3  i8 

4  oo 

5  oo 

6  oo 


WORKS  ON 

Christian  Science 

MARY  BAKER  G.  EDDY. 

SCIENCE     AND      HEALTH     WITH      KEY     TO     THE 

SCRIPTURES.    In  one  volume,  700  pp.    The  Original, 

Standard,  and  only  text-book  on  Christian  Science 

Mind  Healing.    Cloth.    Price,  single  book,  prepaid 
Full  Leather  (same  paper  as  Cloth  binding),  prepaid     . 
Morocco  (Oxford  India  Bible  Paper),  prepaid 
Levant  (Heavy  Oxford  India  Bible  Paper),  prepaid 
A    COMPLETE    CONCORDANCE    TO    SCIENCE  AND 

HEALTH     WITH     KEY     TO    THE    SCRIPTURES. 

595  PP>  10  X  7,   bound  in  cloth,  marbled  edges.    Price, 

prepaid,  single  copy 5  00 

MISCELLANEOUS    WRITINGS.    471  pp'.     Clotk     Price, 

each,  prepaid 2  25 

Morocco  (Oxford  India  Bible  Paper),  prepaid         .        .      4  00 
Levant  (Oxford  India  Bible  Paper),  prepaid    .        .        .      5  00 
CHRIST  AND  CHRISTMAS.    An  Illustrated  Poem.    Single 

book,  prepaid 3  00 

RETROSPECTION  AND  INTROSPECTION.    A  biograph- 

ical  sketch  of  the  author.  120  pp.  Price,  prepaid  .  .  i  06 
PULPIT  AND  PRESS.  132  pp.  Price,  prepaid  .  .  i  06 
CHURCH     MANUAL.     Containing    the    By-Laws  of   The 

Mother  Church.  Price,  prepaid.  .  .  .  o  .  i  00 
UNITY  OF  GOOD.    80  pp.     Cloth  covers,  red  edges.    Price, 

prepaid 55 

Leather  covers  (pocket),  prepaid i  00 

RUDIMENTAL  DIVINE  SCIENCE.    35  pp.    Price,  prepaid  37 

NO  AND  YES.    56  pp.     Price,  prepaid  .....  27 

CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  vs.  PANTHEISM.    21  pp.     Price, 

prepaid 26 

MESSAGE  TO   THE   MOTHER  CHURCH,  1900.    24  pp. 

Price,  prepaid 26 

OUR   LEADER'S  MESSAGE,  1901.     Price,  prepaid    .        .  50 

COMMUNION    MESSAGE,   1902.     Price,  prepaid        .        .  50 

CHRISTIAN   HEALING.     17  pp.    Price,  prepaid        .        .  21 

PEOPLE'S   IDEA  OF  GOD.     14  pp.     Price,  prepaid  .        .  21 

FEED  MY  SHEEP.  Price,  per  copy,  prepaid        ...  50 

DIRECT  ALL  ORDERS  TO 

JOSEPH   ARMSTRONG,   Publisher, 

250   Huntington  Avenue,  Boston,  Mass. 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE 

AND 

LEGISLATION 


THE  ENDEAVOR  TO  HANDICAP  TRUTH 

EDWARD    A.  KIMBALL 

CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND    LEGISLATION 

JUDGE    CLIFFORD    P.  SMITH 

CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE:  A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION 

JUDGE    SEPTIMUS    J.  HANNA 


TOGETHER   WITH 

TESTIMONIES,    EDITORIAL    COMMENTS 
AND   APPENDIX 


THE  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY 

250  HUNTINGTON  AVE.,  BOSTON,  MASS. 

1906 


Copyright,  1906,  by 
The  Christian  Science  Publishing  Society. 


INTRODUCTION. 

THE  history  of  the  human  race  declares  that  for  ages 
humanity  has  been  sick.  During  all  these  ages  it  has 
been  conceded  that  a  sick  man  has  a  right  to  try  to  get  well 
and  to  succeed  if  possible.  By  common  consent  he  has  been 
accorded  the  right  to  choose  a  remedy.  There  never  was  a 
time  when  this  right  of  choice  was  not  of  importance  to  him, 
or  when  he  was  willing  that  it  should  be  molested.  .  In  the 
exercise  of  this  volition  he  has  resorted  to  every  conceivable 
curative  system  or  venture,  and  to  all  the  ways  and  means 
that  the  human  mind  could  discover  or  invent. 

Of  all  these  innumerable  endeavors  or  systems,  but  one 
has  given  evidence  of  infallibility.  Christ  Jesus  healed  the 
multitudes  of  all  manner  of  diseases,  spontaneously,  in- 
stantly. All  other  methods  except  his  have  been  manifestly 
fallible  and  uncertain;  all  have  been  experimental,  inade- 
quate, and  more  or  less  disappointing,  and  strange  to  say,  the 
different  systems  and  theories  which  professedly  have  had 
one  common  object;  namely,  the  healing  of  the  sick,  have 
ever  been  in  a  state  of  antagonism  toward  each  other. 

Of  the  vast  array  of  systems  which  are  palpably  fallible 
and  uncertain,  the  drugging  or  medical  system  during  recent 
centuries  has  attracted  to  itself  a  large  number  of  adherents, 
and  established  itself  in  popular  sanction.  In  consequence 
of  this,  the  medical  profession  has  secured  certain  forms  of 
recognition  and  legislation  which  invest  it  with  quasi-ad- 
ministrative or  official  functions  and  influence  of  a  legal 
nature,  and  these  phases  of  delegated  authority  have  been 
made  to  appear  as  though  they  constituted  a  monopoly  or 
preferment,  in  behalf  of  which  there  has  been  a  continuing 
clamor  for  new  legislation  and  exclusive  privileges.  There 
is  no  objection  to  legislative  enactments  calculated  to  regu- 
late the  practice  of  medicine.  This  practice,  which  is  tenta- 
tive and  uncertain,  offers  a  large  field  for  the  operations  of 
the  charlatan  and  the  malpractitioner ;  moreover,  the  reme- 
dies used  are  largely  poisonous,  and  it  is  desirable  that 
the  use  of  poisons  be  confined  to  those  who  best  understand 
the  danger  of  their  use  and  who  will  do  the  least  harm. 

!5«0ei2 


4  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

The  medical  system,  conscious  of  the  vast  possibiHties  of 
mischief  and  abuse  which  its  falHble  theory  and  practice 
afford,  and  finding  itself  incapable  of  purging-  itself  of 
ignorant  and  iniquitous  practice,  has  appealed  to  the  law- 
making power  to  restrain  or  repress  the  dangerous  thing 
within  itself  which  it  has  no  inherent  power  tO'  regulate  or 
eliminate.  No  well-ordered  person  objects  to  a  response  in 
kind  to  such  an  appeal,  but  in  consequence  of  the  semblance 
of  approval  which  it  assumes  is  involved  in  such  legislation, 
the  medical  profession  has  in  the  past  arrogated  to  itself  the 
privilege  of  regulating  or  suppressing,  not  only  the  ad- 
herents of  its  own  ever-changing  theories,  but  also  of  pro- 
hibiting or  regulating  every  other  curative  system  and 
endeavor  and  the  adherents  thereof.  Unable  to  purge  or 
restrain  itself,  it  supplicates  the  State  to  restrain  it  by  law 
and  then  asks  for  another  law  that  shall  make  it  the  criterion 
for  all  other  curative  agencies. 

This  book  is  issued  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  the 
proposition  that  such  attempts  at  molestation,  persistently  re- 
peated by  a  system  which  contains  within  itself  the  most 
violent  antagonisms  and  antipathies,  constitute  an  utter  per- 
version of  the  genius  of  medical  legislation.  We  submit  that 
such  attempts  are  not  essential  to  the  conservation  of  human 
interests,  but  on  the  contrary  are  offensive  and  intolerable 
instances  of  class  legislation,  calculated  to  grant  a  monopoly 
and  to  annul  or  curtail  legitimate  individual  freedom  of 
choice  in  matters  that  concern  the  v^^al  or  woe  of  the  in- 
dividual man. 

It  is  the  boast  of  the  American  citizen  that  the  supreme 
glory  of  American  law  lies  in  the  fact  that  it  ordains  and 
em-phasizes  the  largest  possible  range  of  individual  oppor- 
tunity, privilege,  and  self-government  that  is  consistent  with 
the  general  welfare  of  its  people,  and  provides  within  itself 
a  safeguard  against  the  attempted  abridgment  of  those 
liberties.  In  disregard  of  this  vital  provision  and  declara- 
tion of  constitutional  law  and  national  policy,  the  medical 
S5^stem  has  sought  through  legislation  to  obstruct  or  prevent 
the  activity  of  every  curative  system  unlike  itself.  In  ac- 
cordance with  this  inveterate  habit,  it  has  asked  nearly  every 


INTRODUCTION.  5 

legislature  of  the  United  States  to  prohibit  the  practice  of 
Christian   Science   Mind-heahng. 

Recognizing  the  fact  that  the  ultimate  of  all  such  legis- 
lation in  effect  would  prostrate  the  right  of  an  individual 
choice  or  election,  the  law-making  departments  of  these 
States  have  invariably  refused  to  enact  such  laws,  and  in 
some  instances  have  stigmatized  the  attempted  procurement 
thereof  as  an  ignobly  conceived  effort  at  class  legislation. 
We  submit  that  the  answer  of  the  legislatures  of  America 
is  a  palpable  advertisement  of  their  determination  not  to 
declare  by  law  that  their  citizens  may  not  have  recourse  to 
Christian  Science  practice  and  of  their  conviction  that  such 
a  law  would  be  unconstitutional  and  evil. 

It  would  seem  to  be  proper  and  deferential  to  accept  these 
avowals  on  the  part  of  the  various  legislatures  which  have 
so  definitely  declared  their  convictions ;  but  on  the  contrary, 
the  drugging  system,  by  a  concert  of  action  and  by  means 
of  a  subtle  ruse,  is  seeking  to  beguile  the  legislatures  into 
the  committal  of  an  act  which  would  stultify  and  undo  their 
avowed  convictions  and  policy.  This  ruse  is  in  the  form 
of  a  proposed  law  requiring  that  all  persons  who  profess 
to  heal  the  sick  must  be  examined  by  medical  doctors  as  to 
their  fitness,  and  be  subject  to  punishment  if  they  practise 
their  art  without  the  sanction  of  a  board  of  physicians.     

The  object  of  such  legislation  is  first  to  disqualify  all 
practitioners  of  Christian  Science  and  second  to  alienate 
or  annul  the  right  of  all  Americans  to  invoke  the  aid  of  this 
practice  in  case  of  need  or  desire.  

For  the  reason  that  this  menace  to  constitutional  rights  is 
impending,  the  reader  is  asked  to  consider  the  fixed  and 
irresistible  facts  of  Christian  Science  healing.  Millions 
of  instances  of  cure  already  have  occurred,  and  practically 
every  disease  'heretofore  accounted  incurable  has  been  over- 
come through  this  Science.  A  number  of  statements  of  such 
cures  are  presented  herein.  The  number  might  be  increased 
indefinitely,  but  the  object  has  been  to  present  a  few  in- 
stances of  well-known  and  reputable  people  who  had  pre- 
viously been  in  charge  of  physicians  and  who  had  been 
pronounced  incurable. 


O  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

The  main  object,  however,  in  pubhshing-  this  book,  is  to 
present  a  legal  analysis  of  the  subject  by  Judg'e  Clifford 
P.  Smith,  one  of  the  active  members  of  the  Iowa  judiciary. 
Judge  Smith,  who  is  a  resident  of  Mason  City,  Iowa,  has 
been  a  Christian  Scientist  for  many  years,  and  possesses  the 
practical  and  legal  knowledge  essential  to  an  adequate  dis- 
cussion of  the  issues  involved.  His  paper  is  supplemented 
by  citations  from,  veto  messages,  and  by  selections  from 
newspaper  editorials  and  other  published  articles  and  com- 
ments. 

It  will  be  obvious  to  the  reader  that  an  adequate  pres- 
entation of  so  large  a  theme  in  so  small  a  book  is  impos- 
sible, but  it  is  issued  with  the  knowledge  that  a  perusal  of 
its  contents  will  surely  excite  some  consideration  of  the 
following-  questions,  which  are  evidently  of  profound  imp 
portance  to  all  mankind : — 

If  the  alleged  facts  of  Christian  Science  healing-  be  true, 
is  such  efficacy  of  value  and  consequence  to  the  people  who 
have  been  healed?  If  Christian  Science  practice  is  result- 
ing* in  the  cure  of  thousands  of  instances  of  so»-called  fatal 
disease,  would  it  be  well  to  continue  its  beneficial  activity, 
or  should  it  be  prevented  or  obstructed?  If  you  yourself 
were  sick,  and  had  in  vain  made  every  other  effort  to  re- 
cover, do  you  think  you  ought  to  have  the  right  to  invoke 
the  aid  of  Christian  Science,  as  a  last  resort?  Would 
you  be  reconciled,  in  the  hour  of  your  extremity,  if  you 
were  to  be  deprived  of  this  possible  opportunity  to  live  by 
such  a  manipulation  of  the  subtleties  of  legislation  that  no 
Christian  Scientist  was  permitted  to  minister  to  you  without 
being  accounted  a  criminal  and  placed  under  penalty  for 
the  violation  of  law? 


Christian  Science  and  Legislation* 


THE  ENDEAVOR  TO  HANDICAP  TRUTH. 

[Extract  from  a  lecture  delivered  in  California.] 
EDWARD    A.    KIMBALL. 

THE  people  of  California  are  rejoicing-  over  the  achieve- 
ments of  Mr.  Burbank,  the  illustrious  citizen  of  this 
State  who  has  wrought  such  wonderful  trans fomiations  in 
the  vegetable  kingdom.  It  is  estimated  that  the  changes 
which  he  has  already  effected  in  the  structure,  tissue,  and 
habits  of  many  plants  and  trees  will  eventually  add  millions 
of  dollars  annually  to  the  value  of  these  products.  The 
transformation  of  the  potato  plant,  whereby  it  will  not  only 
increase  its  product,  but  furthermore  will  bear  its  fruit  on  the 
vine,  instead  of  in  the  earth,  is  one  of  hundreds  of  marvels ; 
but  perhaps  the  one  of  most  curious  interest  to  the  people  of 
the  Pacific  Coast  is  the  change  effected  in  the  cactus  plant. 

Nearly  a  million  square  miles  of  American  desert  are  in- 
capable of  sustaining  animal  life  because  there  is  no  rainfall 
to  co-operate  with  the  soil.  The  sage-brush  and  the  cactus, 
the  prolific  offspring  of  this  dry  and  desolate  expanse,  have 
never  afforded  sustenance  to  man  or  beast.  Within  a  short 
time  Mr.  Burbank  has  not  only  transformed  the  fruit  of 
the  cactus  so  that  it  will  be  satisfying  and  nutritious,  but  he 
has  also  eliminated  from  the  body  of  the  plant  the  sharp 
spines  which  have  heretofore  rendered  access  toi  the  fruit 
well-nigh  impossible.  Remembering  that  he  is  the  first  and 
only  person  in  the  world  who  has  done  these  things,  I  ask 
you  to  consider  this  question :  "Why  did  no  one  ever  do  them 
before?"  The  one  answer  and  the  one  reason  is  that  no 
one  ever  knew  enough ;  likewise  it  may  be  said  that  for 
thousands  of  years  none  of  the  wise  men  ever  knew  enough 
to  have  a  sewing-machine,  a  railway,  or  a  telephone. 

Mr.  Burbank's  discoveries  liave  come  to  the  world  as  a 
surprise.     They  have  not  only  supplanted  the  old  theories, 

7 


8  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

and  revolutionized  methods  and  practices,  but  what  is  most 
significant  is  the  fact  that  they  are  largely  contrary  to  the 
books,  contrary  to  the  schools,  contrary  to  the  professors  of 
horticulture  and  the  theories  of  florists,  and  contrary  to  what 
have  been  called  the  laws  of  nature  and  the  fixity  of  ma- 
terial things.  He  has  changed  tissue,  structure,  form,  color, 
habit,  size,  and  function,  and  has  dominated  many  kinds  of 
objectionable  and  offensive  conditions  and  objects. 

In  order  to  do  this  it  was  first  necessary  for  him  to  know 
somewhat  concerning  the  essential  laws  that  lie  back  of  the 
entire  work,  and  to  discover  the  modus  operandi  which 
enabled  him  to  transform,  overturn,  and  rehabilitate.  In 
doing  this  he  came  upon  that  which  was  before  Adam,  and 
which  would  have  been  available  to  Moses,  Plato,  Cicero, 
Caesar,  Charlemagne,  Napoleon,  Shakespeare,  Macaulay, 
Franklin,  or  Washington,  if  they  had  only  known  enough  to 
make  the  same  discovery. 

I  speak  of  this  celebrated  man,  who  is  awakening  the 
world  to  the  realization  of  possibilities  that  heretofore  have 
been  unknown  or  denied, — this  man  who  is  doing  wonders 
for  the  potato  plant  and  eliminating  the  spines  from  the 
body  of  the  prickly  pear, — ^because  I  am  to  speak  also  of  an 
illustrious  woman,  whose  discoveries  and  achievements  are 
doing  wonders  for  tormented  men  and  women,  and  eliminat- 
ing malignant  cancers,  inaccessible  tumors,  and  other  offen- 
sive objects  and  conditions  from  the  body  of  humanity. 

These  wonders  have  been  accomplished  because  Mrs. 
Eddy  brought  to  light  that  w^hich  was  existent  before  Adam 
or  any  one  else ;  namely,  the  Science  of  being  and  the  divine 
Principle  thereof.  It  was  essential  also  for  her  to  discover 
the  laws  which  govern  in  the  case,  and  the  rule  or  modus 
operandi  of  their  action,  and  to  demonstrate,  by  numerous 
and  incontestable  proofs,  the  verity  of  the  discovery.  After 
all  this  was  done  she  published  Christian  Science  to  the 
world,  and  taught  thousands  of  people  concerning  the  Prin- 
ciple and  practice  of  Christian  Science  Mind-healing,  and 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  her  earliest  works,  written 
thirty  years  ago,  she  prophetically  indicated  such  possi- 
bilities as  are  being  wrought  out  by  Mr.  Burbank,  as  well  as 


THE  ENDEAVOR  TO  HANDICAP   TRUTH.  Q 

many  other  changes  that  will  yet  take  place.  Now  please 
observe  a  certain  analogy  presented  by  these  two  instances 
of  discovery  and  proof.  Like  Mr.  Burbank's  achievements, 
Mrs.  Eddy's  message  and  proofs  came  as  a  surprise;  they, 
too,  were  contrary  to  the  books,  contrary  to  the  schools,  conr 
trary  to  the  professors  and  their  theories ;  contrary  to  what 
people  have  supposed  they  ought  to  believe,  and  they  even 
seemed  to  be  contrary  to  nature  and  its  laws  and  to  the 
inexorable  trend  of  matter.  They  were  contrary,  indeed,  to 
nearly  everything  except  the  law-fulfilling  demonstrations  of 
Christ  Jesus  and  his  declaration  that  God  is,  through  law, 
the  natural  healer  of  the  sick.  ^-^ 

Never  since  the  advent  of  the  drugging    system    has    it     \ 
healed  a  single  instance  of   malignant    cancer.     Owing   to     ! 
the  discovery  by  Mrs.  Eddy,  and  to  the  instructions  which 
she  has  imparted  to  others,  hundreds  of  malignant  cancers 
have  been  healed  through  Christian  Science  practice.  -.^ 

With  the  demonstrations  of  Mr.  Burbank  before  your 
thought,  I  ask  you  to  remember  that  a  demonstrable  science 
should  not  be  ignored  or  persecuted  simply  because  its  phe- 
nomena are  new  and  surprising ;  their  explanation  being  con- 
trary to  the  various  theories,  and  contrary  to  the  methods 
which  have  been  tried  and  have  failed. 

Now  that  I  am  touching  on  these  matters  I  am  tempted 
by  a  few  questions,  which  as  I  thus  speak  surge  to  the  front 
with  considerable  insistence,  and  I  will  ask  you  to  consider 
them  incidentally.  What  would  you  think  if  the  horti- 
culturists of  California  were  to  ask  the  State  of  California, 
by  its  legislative  act,  to  repress  Mr.  Burbank  and  his  in- 
novations? Failing  to  accomplish  such  an  attempt,  what 
would  you  think  if  they  were  to  ask  the  legislature  to  require 
that  before  being  allowed  to  practise  his  art,  this  man,  who 
knows  how  to  do  these  things,  should  be  obliged  to  study 
the  methods  of,  and  pass  an  examination  before,  a  State 
Board  of  Horticulturists,  who  never  did  them  and  do  not 
know  how  to  do  them? 

What  do  you  think  of  the  effort  on  the  part  of  the  medical 
profession  to  induce  the  legislature  of  California  to  prohibit 
Christian  Science  Mind-healing,  which  has  accomplished  the 


10  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

cure  of  practically  every  so-called  fatal  disease  ?  Failing  to 
secure  such  prohibition  from  the  legislature,  what  do  you 
think  of  their  effort  to  have  the  legislature  require  that  the 
people  who  have  cured  malignant  cancers  shall  be  obliged  to 
study  the  methods  of,  and  be  examined  by,  a  State  Board  of 
Health,  the  members  pf  which  have  never  cured  a  malignant 
cancer  and  do  not  profess  to  know  how  to  do  it?  More- 
over, what  would  you  say  if  you  were  quite  familiar  with 
the  fact  that  the  Boards  of  Health  include  both  allopathic  and 
homcEopathic  professors,  who  disagree  so  largely  aniong 
themselves,  concerning  theory  and  practice,  that  one  school 
administers  on  an  average  a  million  times  as  much  medicine 
as  is  administered  by  the  other  in  each  case  treated  ? 

The  theories  exploited  by  these  two  schools  concerning 
the  cause  and  cure  of  disease  differ  radically,  and  the  an- 
tagonisms thereof  are  fundamentally  irreconcilable.  Never- 
theless there  are  enough  points  of  common  agreement  and 
common  interest  to  enable  them  to  tolerate  the  enforced 
membership  of  each  other  on  the  Boards  of  Health. 

The  theory  of  Christian  Science  concerning  the  cause  and 
cure  of  disease  is  likewise  radically  different  from  those  I 
have  mentioned,  and  it  certainly  ought  to  be  different  if  it 
is  to  succeed  where  they  have  failed.  The  points  of  agree- 
ment between  them  and  Christian  Science  are  so  few  that 
the  different  systems  cannot  possibly  co-operate,  and  we 
freely  admit  that  an  analytical  examination  would  show 
definitely  that  Christian  Science  practice  cannot  be  guided 
by  the  theory  and  practice  of  either  school,  and  that  to  be 
guided  by  the  theories  of  both  of  them  would  be  simply  im- 
possible. 

According  to  Christian  Science,  the  drugging  system, 
which  takes  no  cognizance  of  the  mental,  spiritual,  moral, 
or  immoral  nature  of  the  patient,  is  ipso  facto  radically 
defective  and  inferior,  and  we  admit  that  the  adherents  of 
that  system  would  not  be  satisfied  with  the  examination  of 
a  Christian  Scientist,  who  knows  that  in  the  mental  realm 
are  the  most  potential  causes  of  bodily  impairment  and 
degradation. 

The  practice  of  Christian  Science  projects  upon  the  world 


THE  ENDEAVOR   TO  HANDICAP   TRUTH.  II 

the  following  inquiries:  Is  this  practice  beneficial;  does  it 
constitute  a  successful  curative  agency;  is  it  equal  to,  or 
superior  to,  other  systems  that  are  tolerated  or  sanctioned; 
does  it  promise  results  that  are  to  be  desired,  and  does  it  to 
a  reasonable  extent  fulfil  its  promise;  and,  finally,  has  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States  a  right  to  invoke  its  aid  in  case 
of  sickness?  The  vs^orld,  which  needs  greatly  to  scrutinize 
these  questions  and  to  make  the  most  exhaustive  examina- 
tion of  facts,  is  gradually  getting  its  answer;  and  when  the 
facts  become  familiar  to  the  legislator  he  will  discern  in- 
stantly that  a  medical  examination  of  a  Christian  Scientist 
would  be  incongruous  in  the  extreme,  and  would  be  scien- 
tifically intolerable  for  the  reason  that  the  medical  doctors 
do  not  understand  the  theory,  practice,  or  success  of  Chris- 
tian Science  healing. 

The  medical  professors  know  very  well  that  Christian 
Scientists  will  not  study  nor  imbibe  their  theories  nor  adopt 
their  practice.  They  know  that  if  they  can  induce  a  legis- 
lature to  delegate  to  them  the  power  to  decide  whether  a 
Christian  Scientist  is  competent  to  heal  the  sick  or  not,  they 
will  be  able  to  exclude  the  exercise  of  such  curative  en- 
deavor; and  on  the  other  hand  we  are  perfectly  willing  to 
admit  that  if  a  Christian  Scientist  were  to  pursue  such  study, 
and  assimilate  the  theories  of  the  drugging  system,  his  skill 
as  a  practitioner  would  inevitably  deteriorate. 

The  pith  and  essence  of  all  contention  on  this  issue  must 
be  determined  by  recourse  to  facts.  If  the  indestructible 
facts  of  Christian  Science  practice  be  considered  and  ac- 
knowledged, then  it  follows  as  a  natural  sequence  that  the 
value  of  the  practice  cannot  possibly  be  enhanced  by  the 
proposed  absorption  of  medical  theories,  and  it  is  equally 
clear  that  it  should  not  be  hindered  by  them. 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

JUDGE  CLIFFORD  P.   SMITH. 
I. 

THIS  article  is  addressed  to  the  American  people  and 
particularly  to  the  individual  members  of  American 
legislative  assemblies.  Its  purpose  is  to  maintain  the  right 
of  every  American  citizen  to  choose  the  method  or  system 
which  he  will  employ  to  preserve  or  recover  his  health  and 
to  have  the  aid,  if  he  so  desires,  of  a  practitioner  of  that 
system;  to  protest  against  the  granting  of  a  monopoly  to 
any  system  or  school  of  healing,  or  any  combination  of  such 
schools;  to  dissuade  the  makers  of  human  laws  from  at- 
tempting to  compel  citizens  to  conform  their  conduct  to  any 
prescribed  or  limited  concept  of  God  and  His  government; 
to  show  the  real  character,  tendency,  and  effect  of  certain 
laws  which  are  being  introduced  into  the  legislatures;  and 
to  claim  for  Christian  Scientists  the  equal  benefit  of  Ameri- 
can institutions  and  the  equal  protection  of  the  constitutional 
provisions  designed  to  secure  the  rights  of  individual  citi- 
zens and  to  limit  the  scope  and  power  of  civil  government. 

II. 

Christian  Science  is  "a  system  of  religious  teaching, 
based  on  the  Scriptures,  which  originated  with  the  Rev. 
Mary  Baker  Eddy  about  1866.  Its  most  notable  application 
is  ih  the  professed  cure  of  disease  by  mental  and  spiritual 
means."  (Century  Dictionary.)  The  Christian  Science 
church  was  organized  in  1879.  It  was  designed  "to  com- 
memorate the  word  and  works  of  our  Master  [and]  re- 
instate primitive  Christianity  and  its  lost  element  of 
healing."  (Church  Manual  of  The  First  Church  of  Christ, 
Scientist,  in  Boston,  p.  17.) 

The  parent  organization,  or  Mother  Church,  in  Boston 

J  '  has  at  present  over  thirty-six  thousand  members.  ^  It  also 

has  nearly  one  thousand  branch  churches  and  societies,  each 

of  which  has  its  own  organization  and  holds  regular  church 

services.     There    are    many    thousand    adherents    of    this 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  1 3 

religion,  scattered  throughout  this  and  other  countries, 
residing  in  locaHties  where  no  church  of  this  denomination 
has  as  yet  been  organized.  Therefore,  this  system  of  re- 
Hgion  has  attained,  within  forty  years,  to  the  dignity  of  a 
large  and  rapidly  growing  religious  denomination. 

Less  than  forty  years  is  a  short  time  for  the  development 
of  a  system  of  mental  and  spiritual  therapeutics,  as  com- 
pared with  more  than  forty  centuries  of  material  medicine, 
especially  when  it  is  considered,  as  it  must  be,  that  Chris- 
tian Science  is  essentially  a  religion,  and  that  the  proficiency 
of  its  practitioners  depends  on  their  attainment  of  spiritual 
knowledge  or  understanding,  and  involves  spiritual  growth ; 
therefore,  no  Christian  Scientist  pretends  tn.  have  pro- 
gressed to  the  point  of  invariable  success  in  healing.  While 
rejoicing  that  they  are  comparatively  infrequent,  we  f rankl}! 
admit  occasional  failures;  nevertheless,  a  system  which  is 
based  on  correct  premises,  which  works  m  accordance  with 
the  true  order  of  the  universe,  is  potentially  perfect  and 
only  needs  to  be  understood  by  mankind  in  order  that  its 
benefits  may  be  fully  realized.  Discoverers  and  inventors 
in  all  departments  of  human  endeavor  are  given  time  and  a 
fair  chance  to  make  good  their  claims,  and  Christian  Sci- 
entists ask  that  time  and  opportunity  for  unhindered  de- 
velopment be  given  them.  The  drugging  system  exhibits 
very  imperfect  results  after  over  forty  centuries  of  ex- 
perimentation. 

Whoever  acts  upon  the  assumption  that  Christian  Sci- 
ence does  not  heal  the  sick,  will  base  his  action  upon  a  most 
serious  mistake  of  fact.  Attention  is  called  in  this  con- 
nection to  the  testimonies  published  herewith.  (See  page 
70.)  Christian  Science  does  heal  the  sick.  Jt_has_cured_ 
people  of  every  kind  of  disease  known  to  jthe-4iraetice^^ 
medicine,  whether  considered  ,  jcuriH5^^^^©t--Jnciirab]e_J^ 
that  system.  T-his  is"  a  fact  which  Christian  Scientists 
are  prepared  to  prove,  and  ask  leave  to  prove,  before 
any  legislature  or  legislative  committee  where  it  may 
be  called  in  question.  Logically,  the  burden  of  proof  is 
on  the  school  or  combination  which  demands  a  monopoly; 
which  asks  the  legislative  department  of  government  to  put 


14  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

all  citizens  under  its  control.  Given  reasonable  opportunity 
and  a  fair  hearing,  we  can  and  will  prove  the  facts  just 
stated  by  legal  evidence  and  credible  witnesses;  that  is, 
by  the  testimony,  on  oath,  of  reputable  persons  who  have 
been  healed  and  therefore  have  personal  knowledge  whereof 
they  speak.  Surely  no  legislative  assembly  or  committee, 
having  under  consideration  a  bill  involving  this  question 
of  fact,  can  justly  decide  it  against  us  without  a  hearing, 
especially  when  such  measures  involve  the  civil  and  religious 
liberty,  and  possibly  the  lives,  of  many  citizens. 

III. 

Christian  Scientists  rely  on  the  practice  of  their  religion 
to  prevent  and  cure  disease,  and  for  very  good  reasons. 
The  principal  reasons  which  obtain  with  the  great  majority 
are  these:  i.  They  have  had  need  of  relief  from  sickness 
or  bad  habits  and  have  failed  to  obtain  it  by  other  means. 
2.  They  have  found  Christian  Science  to  be  a  superior 
curative  agent,  even  curing  the  diseases  which  other  systems 
deem  incurable.  3.  They  believe  it  to  be  the  curative 
agent  of  God;  that  Christ  Jesus  used  the  same  method, 
and  commanded  all  his  followers  to  do  likewise.  4.  They 
believe  that  the  practice  of  Christian  Science  will  ultimately 
overcome  and  abolish  evil,  sickness,  and  suffering,  and  thus 
deliver  the  human  race  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death. 
For  these  reasons  and  others — such,  for  instance,  as  the 
fear  of  ill  effects  from  drugs — a  large  and  ever-increasing 
number  of  intelligent  and  law-abiding  citizens  rely  on 
Christian  Science  to  prevent  or  cure  disease,  and  others  are 
constantly  turning  to  it  after  materia  medica  has  failed  to 
heal  or  relieve  them. 

We  submit  to  all  fair-minded  persons,  and  especially  to 
those  who  cherish  American  traditions  and  respect  con- 
stitutional limitations,  that  the  facts  just  stated  ought  to 
preclude  the  enactment  or  existence  of  any  law  calculated  to 
forbid  or  hinder  citizens  from  relying  on  Christian  Science 
or  employing  Christian  Science  practitioners  in  case  of 
sickness.  Aside  from  the  constitutional  questions  which 
are  involved,  we  assert  that  the  drugging  system  has  not 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION.  1 5 

become  so  certain  in  its  results  as  to  be  entitled  to  prohibit 
people  from  going  outside  and  employing  other  means 
and  methods  to  obtain  relief.  When  any  system  of  healing 
reaches  the  stage  of  development,  and  its  practitioners  ex- 
hibit the  uniform  success  which  will  warrant  them  in  asking 
a  monopoly,  they  will  not  need  or  want  an  act  of  the  legis- 
lature for  that  purpose.  Chief  Justice  Clark  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  North  Carolina  sums  up  this  aspect  of  the 
matter  as  follows:  ''An  eminent  medical  authority  in  this 
State  has  said  that  out  of  twenty-four  serious  cases  of  dis- 
ease, three  could  not  be  cured  by  the  best  remedies,  three 
others  might  be  benefited,  and  the  rest  would  get  well  any- 
way. Stronger  statements  could  be  cited  from  the  most 
eminent  medical  authorities  the  world  has  known.  Medi- 
cine is  an  experimental,  not  an  exact,  science.  All  the  law 
can  do  is  to  regulate  and  safeguard  the  use  of  powerful 
and  dangerous  remedies,  like  the  knife  and  drugs,  but  it 
cannot  forbid  dispensing  with  them.  When  the  Master, 
who  was  himself  called  the  Good  Physician,  was  told  that 
other  than  his  followers  were  casting  out  devils  and  curing 
diseases,  he  said,  'Forbid  them  not.'"  (State  v.  Biggs, 
^2i2i  N.  C.  729,  46  S.  E.  401,  64  L.  R.  A.  139.) 

IV. 

Christian  vScientists  are  not  making  an  attack  on  medical 
doctors.  We  have  the  greatest  respect  for  the  motives  and 
attainments  of  the  better  class  of  physicians.  We  are  also. 
aware  that  not  nearly  all  of  the  medical  profession — prob- 
ably not  a  majority  at  present — desire  legislation  against 
Christian  Science.  The  more  cultivated,  broad-minded,  and 
successful  physicians  labor  to  alleviate  pain  and  sickness, 
leaving  Christian  Science  to  rise  or  fall  by  its  own  merits  or 
demerits.  Many  of  them  show  a  friendly  interest  in  our 
work  and  an  increasing  percentage  of  them  advise  their 
patients  to  try  Christian  Science  as  a  last  resort. 

The  fact  remains  that  the  efforts  to  obtain  legislation 
against  Christian  Science  have  in  every  instance  emanated, 
directly  or  indirectly,  from  the  medical  profession  and 
usually  from  medical    societies.     Many  such    efforts    have 


l6  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

been  made,  often  with  great  preparation  and  years  of 
political  activity.  This  has  been  a  prominent  feature  of 
nearly  all  the  more  recent  efforts.  The  fact  that  the  de- 
mand for  legislation  against  Christian  Science  comes  from 
the  medical  doctors  and  not  from  the  people  generally,  has 
been  noticed  by  all  whose  official  duty  has  brought  them  in 
contact  with  the  subject. 

Thus,  Governor  Mickey  of  Nebraska  vetoed  a  bill  for  a  law 
aimed  at  Christian  Science  practice  in  1905.  In  his  veto  mes- 
sage he  referred  to  the  fact  just  stated  as  follows :  "Without 
in  any  degree  reflecting  upon  the  motives  of  the  legislature, 
it  is  difticult  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  the  bill  was  con- 
ceived in  a  spirit  of  professional  intolerance.  As  originally 
introduced,  the  measure  bore  upon  osteopaths  with  the  same 
rigor  that  it  does  upon  Christian  Scientists,  and  when  it  is 
recalled  that  homoeopaths,  eclectics,  and  other  now  well- 
recognized  schools  of  healing,  as  well  as  osteopaths,  have 
had  to  fight  their  way  to  existence  over  legal  barriers  raised 
by  their  professional  brethren  who  happened  to  be  within 
the  pale  of  the  law,  the  suspicion  may  be  pardonable  that 
there  is  more  at  issue  than  a  consuming  zeal  for  the  public 
health." 

Governor  Peabody  of  Colorado  vetoed  a  bill  for  such  an 
act  in  1903.  He  referred  to  the  same  fact  in  his  veto 
message  as  follows:  "There  is  no  demand  on  the  part  of 
the  public  for  this  class  of  legislation,  and  while  I  have 
been  urged  by  many  eminent  physicians  to  approve  this  bill, 
others,  equally  eminent  and  quite  as  numerous,  have  urged 
me  to  withhoH  my  approval." 

Governor  Thomas  of  Colorado  vetoed  a  bill  for  such  an 
act  in  1899.  In  his  veto  message  he  referred  to  the  same 
subject  as  follows:  "A  decided  majority  of  the  medical 
profession,  including  a  large  number  of  personal  and  politi- 
cal friends,  have  urgently  requested  the  approval  of  the 
measure.  I  am  persuaded  that  they  earnestly  believe  it  to 
be  essential  to  the  public  welfare  and  designed  to  subserve 
the  objects  set  forth  in  its  title.  It  is  not  without  reluctance, 
therefore,  that  the  conclusions  I  have  reached  concerning 
its  merits  make  it  impossible  to  comply  with  their  requests. 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION.  I7 

With  every  consideration  for  their  judgment  and  their 
sincerity,  I  regard  the  bill  as  unjust,  oppressive,  and  ob- 
noxious to  the  general  welfare.  .  .  .  The  title  of  the  bill 
as  it  relates  to  the  public  is  a  misnomer.  This  is  a  common 
subterfuge;  all  measures  designed  to  promote  a  specific 
interest  or  protect  an  existing  evil  are  ostensibly  labeled 
^for  the  benefit  of  the  people.'  The  fact  that  the  peopk 
do  not  seek  the  protection,  ask  for  the  benefit,  nor  suspect 
the  existence  of  the  alleged  danger,  is  wholly  immaterial. 
...  It  is  a  legitimate  criticism  of  this  bill  that  it  is  the 
offspring  of  a  union  between  the  allopathic,  homoeopathic, 
and  eclectic  schools  of  medicine,  into  whose  custody  the 
health  of  the  pubhc  is  to  be  unconditionally  delivered.  Each 
in  its  own  circle  is  given  impunity  as  against  the  other  two, 
but  the  condition  is  that  the  fusion  or  triple  alliance  must 
stand  as  a  unit  against  all  others.  No  one  will  believe  that 
this  union  would  have  been  made  had  it  not  been  essential 
to  the  passage  of  this  bill.  If  the  allopath  is  to  be  believed, 
the  homoeopath  is  a  charlatan  and  the  eclectic  a  fraud.  If 
the  homoeopath  is  to  be  credited,  he  has  saved  society  from 
the  narrow  dogmatism  of  allopathic  ignorance,  and  if  the 
eclectic  is  heard,  he  tells  us  that  he  has  garnered  to  himself 
the  wisdom  of  all  the  schools  and  nothing  but  the  husks 
remain.  Neither  deems  it  consistent  with  professional 
ethics  to  confer  or  consult  with  the  others,  and  each  believes 
his  own  to  be  the  one  branch  of  medical  science  worthy  of 
the  name.  Homoeopathy  fought  its  way  to  recognition 
against  the  bitter  and  implacable  antagonism  of  the  regular 
school,  established  itself  in  the  face  of  abuse,  ridicule,  per- 
secution, and  invective.  Its  disciples  suffered  all  the  pains 
that  hatred,  contumely,  and  authority  could  inflict  upon  it. 
They  now  unite  with  their  hereditary  and  still  unreconciled 
adversaries  to  deny  to  others  the  claims  they  have  so  suc- 
cessfully vindicated  for  themselves,  and  to  assist  them  in 
the  effort  to  extinguish  all  forms  of  healing  save  their  own. 
Society,  however,  does  not  forget,  and  it  may,  therefore, 
be  pardoned  if  it  sees  in  this  fusion  of  the  schools  something 
beyond  the  philanthropic  desire  to  protect  the  public 
health." 


l8  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

V. 

To  comprehend  the  rights  of  Christian  Scientists,  who 
elect  not  to  employ  medical  doctors,  it  is  necessary  to  bear 
in  mind  certain  fundamental  principles  of  American  gov- 
ernment. While  they  ought  to  be  familiar  to  all  American 
citizens,  an  accurate  statement  thereof,  from  recognized 
authorities,  will  help  to  clarify  the  subject  under  discussion. 
And,  as  certain  State  constitutions  say,  ^'A  frequent  re- 
currence to  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  government 
is  absolutely  necessary  to  preserve  the  blessings  of  liberty." 

The  first  and  most  important  consideration  is  that  the 
American  system  of  government  is  founded  upon  the  in- 
dividual and  his  independence.  The  constructive  states- 
men who  brought  this  nation  forth  conceived  government, 
or  the  State,  to  exist  "merely  as  a  legal  entity,  created  and 
organized  solely  for  the  protection  of  the  individual.*' 
(Thorpe,  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States, 
Vol.  I.,  p.  43.)  *Tn  the  revision  and  new  definition  of  the 
State  by  Adams,  Jefferson,  and  their  associates,  the  individ- 
ual was  recognized  as  the  center  of  the  political  system. 
.  .  .  The  American  Revolution  differed  from  all  preceding 
revolutions  in  the  history  of  the  world  in  its  enthronement 
of  the  individual  and  its  subordination  of  the  State  to  him. 
For  a  proper  understanding  of  the  character  of  the  Ameri- 
can constitutions  of  government,  this  idea  cannot  be  too 
well  mastered."     (Idem,  p.  42.) 

"The  framers  of  our  constitution  set  out  with  a  definite 
problem  before  them — the  problem  of  constructing  a  work- 
ing government  which  should  give  effect  to  the  will  of 
the  people  and  at  the  same  time  provide  efficient  safeguards 
for  individual  liberty.".  (Hadley,  Freedom  and  Responsi- 
bility, p.  8.)  "The  doctrine  that  all  power  resides  originally 
in  the  people ;  that  they  are  the  source  of  all  law ;  that  their 
will  is  to  be  pronounced  by  a  majority  of  their  numbers 
and  can  know  no  interruption,  was  not  first  discovered  in 
America.  But  to  this  principle  of  a  democracy  the  people 
of  the  American  states  added  two  real  and  important  dis- 
coveries of  their  own.     They  ascertained  that  their  own 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  I9 

power  might  be  limited  by  compacts  which  would  regulate 
and  define  the  modes  in  which  it  shall  be  exercised.  Their 
written  constitutions  took  the  place  of  the  royal  charters 
which  formerly  embraced  the  fundamental  conditions  of 
their  political  existence,  but  with  this  essential  difference 
— that  whereas  the  charter  emanated  from  a  foreign  sov- 
ereign to  those  who  claimed  no  original  authority  for  them- 
selves, the  constitution  proceeded  from,  the  people,  who 
claimed  all  authority  to  be  resident  in  themselves  alone. 
While  the  charter  embraced  a  compact  between  the  foreign 
sovereign  and  his  subjects  who  lived  under  it,  the  consti- 
tution, framed  by  the  people  for  their  own  guidance  in 
exercising  their  sovereign  power,  became  a  compact  between 
themselves  and  every  one  of  their  number.  In  this  sub- 
stitution of  one  supreme  authority  for  another,  some  limita- 
tion of  the  mode  in  which  the  sovereign  power  was  to  act 
became  the  necessary  consequence  of  the  change;  for  as 
soon  as  the  people  had  declared  and  established  their  own 
sovereignty,  some  declaration  of  the  nature  of  that  sov- 
ereignty, and  some  prescribed  rules  for  its  exercise,  became 
immediately  necessary,  and  that  declaration  and  those  rules 
became  at  once  a  limitation  of  power,  extending  to  every 
citizen  the  protection  of  every  principle  involved  in  them, 
until  the  same  authority  which  had  established  should 
change  them  (by  amending  the  constitution)."  (Curtis, 
Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  L,  p. 
317.)  Therefore  constitutional  government  contemplates 
that  the  rights  of  individuals  shall  be  "as  fully  protected 
against  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the  people  as  they  are 
against  the  action  of  the  departments  of  government." 
(McClain,  Constitutional  Law,  p.   11.) 

The  obligation  to  observe  the  constitutional  cofnpacts  and 
respect  their  limitations  in  the  enactment  of  laws,  rests 
primarily  upon  the  individual  members  of  legislative  as^ 
semblies.  If  they  assume  the  privileges  of  their  position 
without  accepting  its  responsibilities,  one  result  may  be  a 
law  treated  iDy  all  departments  of  government  as  valid 
which  every  good  and  intelligent  citizen  believes  to  be  un- 
constitutional. 


20  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

"In  declaring  a  law  unconstitutional,  a  court  must  neces- 
sarily cover  the  same  ground  which  has  already  been  cov- 
ered by  the  legislative  department  in  deciding  upon  the 
propriety  of  enacting  the  law,  and  they  must  indirectly 
overrule  the  decision  of  that  co-ordinate  department.  The 
task  is  therefore  a  delicate  one,  and  only  to  be  entered  upon 
with  reluctance  and  hesitation.  It  is  a  solemn  act  in  any 
case  to  declare  that  that  body  of  men  to  whom  the  people 
have  committed  the  sovereign  function  of  making  the  laws 
for  the  commonwealth  have  deliberately  disregarded  the 
limitations  imposed  upon  this  delegated  authority,  and 
usurped  power  which  the  people  have  been  careful  to  with- 
hold; and  it  is  almost  equally  so  when  the  act  which  is 
adjudged  to  be  unconstitutional  appears  to  be  chargeable 
rather  to  careless  and  improvident  action  or  error  in  judg- 
ment than  to  intentional  disregard  of  obligation.  .  .  . 

"It  is  but  a  decent  respect  due  to  the  wisdorn,  the  integ- 
rity, and  the  patriotism  of  the  legislative  body  by  which 
any  law  is  passed,  to  presume  in  favor  of  its  validity  until 
its  violation  of  the  constitution  is  proved  beyond  all  reason- 
able doubt."  (Cooley,  Constitutional  Limitations  [7th  ed.], 
pp.  228,  254.) 

The  judicial  department  of  government  has  no  power  to 
review  the  acts  of  the  legislative  department  and  avoid  them 
merely  because  they  are  inexpedient,  unwise,  or  even  unjust. 
The  judgment  of  the  legislature  on  these  points  is  conclu- 
sive so  far  as  the  other  dq^artments  of  government  are  con- 
cerned. But  it  has  been  well  observed  in  this  connection  that 
"While  it  is  true  that  the  courts  have  no  authority  to 
override  the  legislative  judgment  on  the  question  of  expedi- 
ency or  abstract  justice  in  the  enactment  of  a  law,  and  if  a 
case,  arising  under  the  statute,  should  come  up  before  them 
for  adjudication,  they  are  obliged  by  their  official  oaths 
to  enforce  the  statute,  notwithstanding  it  offends  the  com- 
monest principles  of  justice,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  a 
law  which  does  not  conform  to  the  fundamental  principles 
of  free  government  and  natural  justice  and  morality,  will 
prove  ineffectual  and  will  become  a  dead  letter.  .  .  .  The 
passage  of  such  statutes,  however   beneficent    may  be   the 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  21 

immediate  object  of  them,  will  not  only  fail  of  attaining 
the  particular  end  in  view,  but  it  tends  on  the  one  hand  to 
create  in  those  who  are  likely  to  violate  them  a  contempt 
for  the  whole  body  of  restrictive  laws,  and  on  the  other 
hand,  to  inspire  in  those  from  whom  the  necessary  moral 
support  is  to  be  expected,  a  fear  and  distrust,  sometimes 
hate,  of  legal  restraint  which  is  very  destructive  of  their 
practical  value.  And  such  is  particularly  the  case  with 
police  regulations.  .  .  .  There  have  been  so  many  un- 
justifiable limitations  imposed  upon  private  rights  and 
personal  liberty  .  .  .  that  the  modern  world  looks  with 
distrust  upon  any  exercise  of  police  power."  (Tiedeman, 
State  and  Federal  Control  of  Persons  and  Property,  sec. 

The  governor  of  a  State  performs  a  legislative  function 
when  he  approves  or  vetoes  a  bill  for  a  law  passed  by  a 
legislature.  Hence  he  shares  the  responsibility  of  the 
members  of  the  legislature  for  the  expediency,  wisdom, 
justness,  and  constitutionality  of  every  law  which  he  does 
not  veto.     (McClain,  Constitutional  Law,  p.  206.) 

VI. 

A  tendency  has  been  manifested  for  some  time  to  dis- 
solve all  constitutional  limitations  with  the  magic  of  a 
phrase — The  Police  Power.  However,  the  courts  now  re- 
pudiate the  assumption  that  this  can  be  done.  Their  present 
attitude  will  appear  from  the  following  quotations: — 

"There  are  certain  powers,  existing  in  the  sovereignty  of 
each  State  in  the  Union,  somewhat  vaguely  termed  police 
jXDwers,  the  exact  description  and  limitation  of  which  have 
not  been  attempted  by  the  courts.  Those  powers,  broadly 
stated,  and  without,  at  present,  any  attempt  at  a  more 
specific  limitation,  relate  to  the  safety,  health,  morals,  and 
general  welfare  of  the  public.  Both  property  and  liberty 
are  held  on  such  reasonable  conditions  as  may  be  imposed 
by  the  governing  power  of  the  State  in  the  exercise  of  those 
powers.  .  .  . 

**It  must,  of  course,  be  conceded  that  there  is  a  limit  to 


22  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

the  valid  exercise  of  the  poHce  power  by  the  State.  There 
is  no  dispute  concerning  this  general  proposition.  Other- 
wise the  14th  Amendment  would  have  no  efficacy  and 
the  legislatures  of  the  States  would  have  unbounded  power, 
and  it  would  be  enough  to  say  that  any  piece  of  legislation 
was  enacted  to  conserve  the  morals,  the  health,  or  the  safety 
of  the  people ;  such  legislation  would  be  valid,  no  matter  how 
absolutely  without  foundation  the  claim  might  be.  The 
claim  of  the  police  power  would  be  a  mere  pretext, — ^be*- 
come  another  and  delusive  name  for  the  supreme  sovereignty 
of  the  State  to  be  exercised  free  from  constitutional  re- 
straint. This  is  not  contended  for.  In  every  case  that 
comes  before  this  court,  therefore,  where  legislation  of 
this  character  is  concerned  and  where  the  protection  of  the 
Federal  Constitution  is  sought,  the  question  necessarily 
arises,  Is  this  a  fair,  reasonable,  and  appropriate  exercise 
of  the  police  power  of  the  State,  or  is  it  an  unreasonable,  un- 
necessary, and  arbitrary  interference  with  the  right  of  the 
individual  to  his  personal  liberty,  or  tO'  enter  into  those 
contracts  in  relation  to  labor  which  may  seem  to  him  ap- 
propriate or  necessary  for  the  support  of  himself  and  his 
family?  ...  It  is  impossible  for  us  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the 
fact  that  many  of  the  laws  of  this  character,  while  passed 
under  what  is  claimed  to  be  the  police  power  for  the  purpose 
of  protecting  the  public  health  or  welfare,  are,  in  reality, 
passed  from  other  motives."      (Lochner  v.  New  York,  198 

U.S.  45-) 

"Upon  the  question  thus  presented  of  the  proper  limits  of 
the  police  power  much  might  be  written,  and  much,  indeed, 
will  have  to  be  written,  ere  just  bounds  are  set  to  its  ex- 
ercise. But  in  this  case  neither  time  permits  nor  necessity 
demands  its  consideration.  Still  it  may  be  suggested  in 
passing  that  our  government  was  not  designed  to  be  paternal 
in  form.  We  are  a  self-governing  people,  and  our  just 
pride  is  that  our  laws  are  made  by  us  as  well  as  for  us. 
Every  individual  citizen  is  to  be  allowed  so  much  liberty  as 
may  exist  without  impairment  of  the  equal  rights  of  his 
fellows.  Our  institutions  are  founded  upon  the  conviction 
that  we  are  not  only  capable  of  self-government  as  a  com- 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION.  23 

iriunity,  but,  what  is  the  logical  necessity,  that  we  are 
capable,  to  a  great  extent,  of  individual  self-government. 
If  this  conviction  shall  prove  ill-founded,  we  have  built 
our  house  upon  sand.  The  spirit  of  a  system  such  as  ours 
is  therefore  at  total  variance  with  that  which,  more  or  less 
veiled,  still  shows  in  the  paternalism  of  other  nations.  It 
may  be  injurious  to  health  to  eat  bread  before  it  is  twentyr 
four  hours  old,  yet  it  would  strike  us  with  surprise  to  see 
the  legislature  making  a  crime  of  the  sale  of  fresh  bread. 
We  look  with  disfavor  upon  such  legislation  as  we  do  upon 
the  enactment  of  sumptuary  laws.  We  do  not  even  punish 
a  man  for  his  vices,  unless  they  be  practised  openly,  so  as 
to  lead  to  the  spread  of  corruption,  or  to  breaches  of  the 
peace,  or  to  public  scandal.  In  brief,  we  give  to  the  in- 
dividual the  utmost  possible  amount  of  personal  liberty, 
and,  with  that  guaranteed  to  him,  he  is  treated  as  a  person 
of  responsible  judgment,  not  as  a  child  in  his  non-age,  and 
is  left  free  to  work  out  his  destiny  as  impulse,  education, 
training,  heredity,  and  environment  direct  him.  So,  while 
the  police  power  is  one  whose  proper  use  makes  most 
potently  for  good,  in  its  undefined  scope  and  inordinate 
exercise  lurks  no  small  danger  to  the  republic;  for  the 
difficulty  which  is  experienced  in  defining  its  just  limits  and 
bounds  affords  a  temptation  to  the  legislature  to  encroach 
upon  the  rights  of  citizens  with  experimental  laws,  none  the 
less  dangerous  because  well  meant."  (Ex  parte  Jentzsch, 
112  Cal.  468,  44  Pac.  803.) 

"The  highest  conception  of  the  State,  however,  repudi- 
ates the  absolute  and  unquestioning  subordination  of  the 
individual  to  society,  and  insists  upon  the  preservation  of 
individual  liberty  as  an  essential  factor  in  civilization  and 
as  one  which  will  ultimately  lead  tO'  a  more  perfect  social 
welfare,  though  it  may  produce  temporary  disturbances  or 
delays  in  the  accomplishment  of  what  is  believed  to  be  the 
public  good.  This  conception  of  the  State  is  endorsed  by 
our  constitutions,  and  the  idea  of  a  public  welfare  bought 
at  the  cost  of  suppressing  individual  liberty  and  right  is, 
therefore,  in  our  system  of  government,  inadmissable." 
(Freund,  Police  Power,  sec.  i6.) 


24  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

VII. 

In  order  to  approach  the  subject  of  Christian  Science  and 
legislation  intelligently,  it  is  necessary  to  remember  that  the 
American  people  is  a  religious  people,  and  that  the  pre- 
vailing religion  in  the  United  States  is  Christian.  It  is 
also  necessary  tO'  know  that  these  historical  facts  are  ju- 
dicially known  and  acted  on  by  the  courts,  and  they  are  pre- 
sumed to  be,  and  should  be,  recognized  and  given  effect  by 
the  legislatures,  and  thus  enter  into  and  give  character  to  our 
laws.  In  short,  the  Christian  religion  is,  in  a  sense,  a  part 
of  our  common  law,  and  it  should  pervade  our  statute  laws. 
(Cooley,  Constitutional  Limitations  [7th  ed.],  pp.  669,  670; 
Bishop,  New  Criminal  Law,  Vol.  I.,  Sec.  495-497;  Tiede- 
man.  State  and  Federal  Control  of  Persons  and  Property, 
sec.  6^,  65.)  "While  the  State  is  no  longer  empowered 
to  compel  people  by  prohibition  and  punishment  to  be 
religious,  it  should  recognize  that  in  the  performance  of 
its  function  of  preserving  the  peace  and  security  of  society, 
it  owes  to  religion,  and  to  the  institutions  of  religion,  an 
obligation  of  which  it  should  ever  be  mindful  and  coni- 
siderate."  (James  H.  Webb  in  Two  Centuries  Growth  of 
American  Law,  p.  366.)'  For,  as  Mr.  Bishop  observes, 
"upon  religion,  morals,  and  education,  society  and  the  State 
itself  rest."     (New  Criminal  Law,  Vol.  I.,  sec.  495.) 

Just  how  much  these  considerations  are  known  or  heeded 
in  the  legislatures  cannot  be  determined;  for  a  legislature 
is  not  required,  like  an  appellate  court,  to  record  the  reasons 
for  its  acts.  Many  cases  could  be  cited  in  which  the  courts 
have  recognized  these  facts  and  given  practical  effect  to 
them.  One  of  the  leading  cases  will  suffice  by  way  of 
illustration.  In  Holy  Trinity  Church  i^.  United  States, 
143  U.  S.  457,  the  court,  construing  a  statute  prohibiting 
the  importation  of  aliens  under  contract  to  perform  labor, 
said,  "But,  beyond  all  these  matters,  no  purpose  of  action 
against  religion  can  be  imputed  to  any  legislation,  State 
or  national,  because  this  is  a  religious  people.  This  is 
historically  true.  From  the  discovery  of  this  continent  to 
the  present  hour  there  is  a  single  voice  making  this  affirma- 
tion. 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  25 

"[After  referring  to  various  colonial  documents.]  Com- 
ing nearer  to  the  present  time,  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence recognizes  the  presence  of  the  Divine  in  human  affairs. 
If  we  examine  the  constitutions  of  the  various  States  we 
find  in  them  a  constant  recognition  of  religious  obligations. 
Every  constitution  of  every  one  of  the  forty- four  States  con- 
tains language  which  either  directly  or  by  clear  implication 
recognizes  a  profound  reverence  for  religion  and  an  assump- 
tion that  its  influence  in  all  human  affairs  is  essential  to 
the  well  being  of  the  community.  .  .  .  Even  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States,  which  is  supposed  to  have  little 
touch  upon  the  private  life  of  the  individual,  contains  in  the 
First  Amendment  a  declaration  common  to  the  constitu- 
tions of  all  the  States,  as  follows :  'Congress  shall  make  no 
law  respecting  an  establishment  of  religion  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof.' 

"There  is  no  dissonance  in  these  declarations.  There  is 
a  universal  language  pervading  them  all,  having  one  meaur 
ing;  they  affirm  and  re-affirm  that  this  is  a  religious  nation. 
...  In  the  face  of  all  these  shall  it  be  believed  that  a  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States  intended  tO'  make  it  a  misde- 
meanor for  a  church  of  this  country  to  contract  for  the 
services  of  a  Christian  minister  residing  in  another  nation? 
...  It  is  the  duty  of  the  courts,  under  those  circum- 
stances, to  say  that,  however  broad  the  language  of  the 
statute  may  be,  the  act,  although  within  the  letter,  is  not 
within  the  intention  of  the  legislature,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  within  the  statute." 

The  importance  of  these  considerations  to  the  present 
subject  cannot  be  over-estimated.  For  if  the  law-makers 
do  not  restrict  the  practice  of  the  Christian  religion,  they 
will  not  restrict  the  practice  of  Christian  Science.  Christian 
Science  is  a  religion  which  conforms  in  theory  and  practice 
to  the  religion  of  Jesus  the  Christ.  The  practice  of  Chris- 
tian Science  is  the  practice  of  a  Christian  religion  as  he 
defined  it  by  precept  and  example. 

A  Christian  is  "one  whose  profession  and  life  conform 
to  the  teaching  and  example  of  Christ."  (Standard  Dicr 
tionary.)     A  good  Christian  has  always  been    deemed    a 


26  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

good  citizen.  But  any  law  which  will  restrict  Christian 
Science  healing  will  stamp  as  a  crime  the  act  of  doing  what 
Christ  Jesus  did  and  what  he  would  doubtless  do  again  if 
he  were  here;  it  will  denounce  as  criminal  the  act  of  en- 
deavoring to  be  a  Christian — the  act  of  endeavoring  to 
conform  to  the  teaching  and  example  of  Christ;  it  will 
condemn  as  a  public  offence  the  act  of  doing  what  he  said 
all  his  followers  should  do!  (Matthew,  lo  :  5-10;  28  :  16 
-20;  Mark,  16  :  14-18;  John,  14  :  12.)  Is  there  need  to 
say  more?  If  so,  let  us  reason  further.  Under  such  legis- 
lation, the  Christian  whose  prayers  are  the  most  effectual, 
will  probably  be  called  on  to  commit  the  most  crimes ;  the 
one  whose  ministrations  bring  the  widest  salvation  to  sin- 
ning, suffering,  and  dying  humanity  will  be  the  most  crim^ 
inal;  the  one  who  most  nearly  apprehends  Christ's 
Christianity  and  most  faithfully  puts  it  into  daily  practice 
will  be  the  greatest  outlaw! 

VIII. 
It  is  also  necessary  to  remember  that  this  country  was 
chiefly  settled  by  people  who  came  here  to  seek  freedom 
from  the  laws  of  European  governments  which  attempted 
to  compel  them  to  conform  to  the  religions  of  intolerant 
majorities,  and,  further,  that  the  experience  of  the  colonists, 
both  in  Europe  and  afterw^ard  in  this  country,  with  such 
attempts  "to  control  the  mental  operation  of  persons  and 
enforce  an  outward  conformity  to  a  prescribed  standard" 
of  religious  belief  and  practice,  was  prominent  among  the 
causes  which  determined  the  forms  of  government.  State 
and  national,  which  the  American  people  adopted  after  the 
separation  from  the  Mother  Country.  (Davis  v.  Beason, 
133  U.  S.  333;  Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol. 

5,  p.  5II-) 

Mr.  Tiedeman  says,  "Most  of  the  immigrants  to  the 
American  colonies  were  refugees  from  religious  oppression, 
driven  to  the  wilds  of  America  in  order  to  worship  the  God 
of  the  universe  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  con- 
science. The  Puritans  of  New  England,  the  Quakers  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  English  Catholics  of  Maryland,  and  the 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  2/ 

Huguenots  of  the  Carolinas,  sought  on  this  continent  that 
rehgious  Hberty  which  was  not  to  be  found  in  Europe.  I 
should  not  say  'rehgious  hberty,'  for  that  is  not  what  they 
sought.  They  desired  only  to  be  freed  from  the  restraint 
of  an  intolerant  and  imposing  majority.  They  desired  only 
to  settle  in  a  country  where  the  adherents  of  their  peculiar 
creed  could  control  the  affairs  of  state.  Notwithstanding 
their  sad  experience  in  the  old  world,  when  they  settled  in 
America  they  became  as  intolerant  of  dissenters  from  the 
faith  of  the  majority  as  their  enemies  had  been  toward 
them.  .  .  .  The  complete  abrogation  of  all  State  inter- 
ference in  matters  of  religion  is  of  slow  growth,  and  can 
only  be  attained  by  the  growth  of  public  opinion."  (State 
and  Federal  Control  of  Persons  and  Property,  sec.  62.) 

Heedful  of  these  lessons,  the  American  people,  when  con- 
structing new  forms  of  State  and  national  governments,  did 
not  fail  to  express,  in  the  most  enduring  form,  their  con- 
ception that  *'the  religious  character  of  a  government  consists 
in  nothing  but  the  religious  belief  of  the  individual  citizens, 
and  the  conformity  of  their  conduct  to  that  belief."  (Bryce, 
American  Commonwealth,  Vol.  2,  p.  702.)  Even  before 
the  Federal  Constitution  was  formed,  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederation  adopted  an  ordinance  for  the  government  of 
the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River  and  for  the  crea- 
tion of  new  States  in  that  vast  domain  (the  Ordinance  of 
1787),  which  contained  articles  of  compact  "for  extending 
the  fundamental  principles  of  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
which  form  the  basis  whereon  these  republics,  their  laws 
and  constitutions  are  erected ;  to  fix  and  establish  those 
principles  as  the  basis  of  all  laws,  constitutions,  and  govern- 
ments which  forever  hereafter  shall  be  formed  in  said  ter- 
ritory." And  the  first  article  was,  ''No  person  demeaning 
himself  in  a  peaceable  and  orderly  manner  shall  ever  be 
molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship,  or  religious 
sentiments,  in  the  said  territory."  This  provision  became 
the  precedent  for  the  First  Amendment  to  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution and  for  many  State  constitutions  afterward 
formed. 

Speaking  of  the  formation  of   the  constitutions    of    the 


28  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

original  States,  Mr.  Bancroft  says,  'Tull  force  was  given  to 
one  principle  which  was  the  supreme  object  of  universal 
desire.  That  which  lay  nearest  the  heart  of  the  American 
people,  that  which  they  above  all  demanded,  was  not  the 
abolition  of  hereditary  monarchy  and  hereditary  aristocracy, 
not  universal  suffrage,  not  the  immediate  emancipation  of 
slaves;  for  more  than  two  centuries  the  humble  Protestant 
sects  had  sent  up  the  cry  to  heaven  for  freedom  to  worship 
God.  To  the  panting  for  this  freedom  half  the  American 
States  owed  their  existence,  and  all  but  one  or  two  their 
increase  in  free  population.  The  immense  majority  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  thirteen  colonies  were  Protestant  dis- 
senters; and  from  end  to  end  of  their  continent  one  voice 
called  to  the  other,  that  there  should  be  no  connection  of 
the  church  with  the  State,  that  there  should  be  no  establish- 
ment of  any  one  form  of  religion  by  the  civil  power,  that 
'all  men  have  a  natural  and  unalienable  right  to  worship 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences  and 
understandings.'  With  this  great  idea  the  colonies  had 
travailed  for  a  century  and  a  half;  and  now,  not  as  revo- 
lutionary, not  as  destructive,  but  simply  as  giving  utter- 
ance to  the  thought  of  the  nation,  the  States  stood  up  in 
succession,  in  the  presence  of  one  another,  and  before  God 
and  the  world,  to  bear  witness  in  favor  of  restoring  in- 
dependence to  conscience  and  the  mind.  Henceforward, 
worship  was  known  to  the  law  only  as  a  purely  individual 
act,  a  question  removed  from  civil  jurisdiction,  and  resei*ved 
for  the  conscience  of  every  man."  (Bancroft,  History  of 
the  United  States,  Vol.  2,  p.  511.) 

This  history  should  be  familiar  to  all  Americans,  but  we 
are  prone  to  forget.  When  the  English  colonies  in  Amer- 
ica were  first  settled,  persons  were  imprisoned,  banished,  and 
even  hanged  in  the  Mother  Country  for  refusal  to  conform 
to  the  religion  of  the  established  church.  (Fisher,  Colonial 
Era,  pp.  85-94 ;  Taylor,  Origin  and  Growth  of  the  English 
Constitution,  Vol.  2,  pp.  I47-I73,  217,  218.)  Three  cen- 
turies later  a  Christian  Science  church  was  refused  a  charter 
at  Philadelphia  in  Pennsylvania — also  for  non-conformity 
to  the  religion  of  other   churches;    non-conformity  to   the 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  2^ 

belief  that  the  salvation  of  God  and  His  Christ  is  available 
to  a  sinful  man  but  not  to  a  sick  man ;  non-conformity  to  a 
public  policy  which  forbade  the  teaching  that  sin,  disease, 
and  death  can  be  overcome  and  abolished.  Yet  the  man 
w^ho  founded  that  city  and  State  wsls  ''again  and  again 
throv^n  into  prison  and  kept  there  for  months"  because  his 
Quaker  meetings  w^ere  held  to  be  "unlawful  assemblies." 
(Fiske,  The  Dutch  and  Quaker  Colonies,  Vol.  2,  pp.  117, 
129;  The  Green  Bag,  Vol.  16,  p.  11 1.) 

Mr.  Fiske's  comment  of  the  public  policy  which  makes 
such  cases  possible  is  worth  reprinting  here.  He  says  (p. 
105),  "Now,  if  we  look  at  religious  persecution  from  the 
point  of  view  of  modem  society,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  it  is 
an  unmitigated  evil.  The  evolution  of  a  higher  civilization 
can  best  be  attained  by  allowing  to  individual  tastes,  im- 
pulses, and  capacities  the  freest  possible  play.  Procrustesr 
beds  are  out  of  fashion;  we  no  longer  think  it  desirable 
that  all  people  should  act  alike.  From  a  Darwinian  stand- 
point we  recognize  that  an  abundance  of  spontaneous  varia- 
tion is  favorable  to  progress.  A  wise  horticulturist  sees 
signs  of  promise  in  many  an  aberrant  plant  and  carefully 
nurtures  it.  If  you  wish  to  produce  a  race  of  self-reliant, 
inventive,  and  enterprising  Yankees,  you  must  not  begin 
by  setting  up  a  winnowing  machine  for  picking  out  and 
slaughtering  all  the  men  and  women  who  are  bold  enough 
and  bright  enough  to  do  their  own  thinking  and  earnest 
enough  to  talk  about  it  to  others.  .  .  . 

"Such  is  the  scientific  aspect  of  the  case.  But  It  has  a 
purely  religious  aspect  from  which  we  are  brought  to  the 
same  conclusion.  The  moment  we  cease  to  regard  religious 
truth  as  a  rigid  body  of  formulas,  imparted  to  mankind 
once  for  all  and  incapable  of  further  interpretation  or  ex- 
pansion; the  moment  we  come  to  look  upon  religion  as  a 
part  of  the  soul's  development  under  the  immediate  influence 
of  the  Spirit  of  God;  the  moment  we  concede  to  individual 
judgment  some  weight  in  determining  what  the  individual 
form  of  religious  expression  shall  be, — that  moment  we 
have  taken  the  first  step  toward  the  conclusion  that  a  dead 
uniformity  of  opinion  on  religious  questions  is  undesirable. 


30  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

In  the  presence  of  an  Eternal  Reality  which  confessedly 
transcends  our  human  powers  of  comprehension  in  many 
ways,  we  are  not  entitled  to  frown  or  to  sneer  at  our  neigh- 
bor's view,  but  if  we  give  it  due  attention  we  may  find 
in  it  more  or  less  that  is  helpful  and  uplifting  which  we  had 
overlooked.  Thus,  instead  of  mere  toleration,  we  rise  to 
a  higher  plane  and  greet  the  innovator  with  words  of  cordial 
welcome.  ;Such  a  state  of  things,  on  any  general  scale, 
can  hardly  yet  be  said  to  have  come  into  existence,  but  in 
the  foremost  communities  many  minds  have  come  within 
sight  of  it,  and  some  have  attained  it.  So  in  past  times  we 
find  here  and  there  some  choice  spirit  reaching  it.  Es- 
pecially in  the  seventeenth  century,  when  Protestantism  was 
assuming  sundry  extreme  forms,  and  when  one  of  the 
symptoms  of  the  age  was  the  demonstration,  by  Hobbes  and 
Locke,  of  the  relativity  of  all  knowledge,  there  were  active 
leaders  of  men  who  attained  to  this  great  breadth  of  view. 
For  example.  Sir  Henry  Vane,  whom  Milton,  in  that  sonnet 
which  is  the  most  glorious  tribute  ever  paid  by  a  man  of 
letters  to  a  statesman,  calls  Religion's  ^eldest  son/ — Sir 
Henry  Vane  once  exclaimed  in  Parliament,  *Why  should  the 
labors  of  any  be  suppressed,  if  sober,  though  never  so  dif- 
ferent? We  now  profess  to  seek  God,  we  desire  to  see 
light!'" 

IX. 

The  Federal  constitution  and  the  various  State  con- 
stitutions secure  to  all  men  the  right  to  "the  free  exercise" 
of  their  religion,  using  the  words  now  quoted  or  their 
equivalents.  The  word  "exercise"  means  "a  putting  into 
use,  action,  or  practice;  the  action  and  appropriate  em- 
ployment or  exertion,  as  of  a  power  or  function ;  a  doing  or 
practising."  (Standard  Dictionary.)  Therefore,  according 
to  the  plain  meaning  of  the  constitutions,  religious  liberty 
in  the  United  States  includes  freedom  to  practise  one's 
religion  as  well  as  believe  in  It.  It  includes  freedom  to 
make  one's  conduct  conform  to  one's  religious  convictions. 
Whoever  believes  that  the  prayer  of  spiritual  understanding 
is  the  Christ-method  of  overcoming  sickness  has  the  right 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  3 1 

to  act  accordingly,  whether  he  believes  that  he  possesses 
the  necessary  spiritual  understanding  himself  or  desires  to 
employ  some  one  who  does.  Indeed  the  State  cannot  enact 
any  law  to  the  contrary  without  entering  the  field  of  scien- 
tific and  theological  controversy  and  establishing  certain 
opinions  and  doctrines  as  the  State  therapeutics  and  the 
State  religion. 

Governor  Mickey  of  Nebraska,  vetoing  a  bill  for  a  law 
aimed  at  Christian*  Science  practice,  said,  "The  consti- 
.tution  of  the  State  of  Nebraska  declares  that  *all  persons 
have  a  natural  and  indefeasible  right  to  worship  almighty 
God  according  to  the  dictates  of  their  own  consciences,* 
and  further  adds,  'nor  shall  any  interference  with  the 
rights  of  conscience  be  permitted.'  In  the  Christian  Sci- 
ence religion  the  ideas  of  worship  and  of  divine  healing 
are  so  intermingled  that  it  is  impossible  to  draw  the  line 
of  demarcation,  and  hence  interference  with  the  one  or  the 
other  is  an  interference  with  *the  rights  of  conscience'  and 
thus  becomes  an  infringement  of  the  constitutional  guaranty 
of  religious  freedom." 

The  law  of  Kansas  regulating  the  practice  of  medicine 
contains  this  provision:  "Nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  con- 
strued as  interfering  with  any  religious  beliefs  in  the  treat- 
ment of  diseases,  providing  that  quarantine  regulations 
relating  to  contagious  diseases  are  not  infringed  upon." 
Referring  to  this  provision,  the  Supreme  Court  of  Kansas 
said,  "The  express  exclusion  of  the  element  of  religious 
belief  in  the  application  of  the  law  was  hardly  necessary. 
Religious  freedom  is  guaranteed  by*  the  constitution,  and 
without  mention  in  the  statute  would  have  been  implied." 
(State  V.  Wilcox,  64  Kan.  789,  68  Pac.  634.) 

Of  course  there  must  be  a  limit  to  what  may  be  done 
merely  in  the  name  of  religion.  Upon  this  point  the  United 
States  wSupreme  Court  has  adopted  the  rule,  formulated  by 
Mr.  Jefferson,  that  "it  is  time  enough  for  the  rightful 
purposes  of  civil  government  for  the  State  to  interfere  when 
principles  break  out  into  overt  acts  against  peace  and  good 
order."  (Reynolds  v.  United  States,  98  U.  S.  145;  Davis 
V.  Beason,  133  U.  S.  333.) 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


32  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

X. 

It  is. also  true  that  the  rights  of  persons  who  elect  to  em- 
ploy Christian  Science  to  preserve  or  recover  their  health 
do  not  depend  solely  upon  the  constitutional  guaranty  of 
religious  freedom.  For,  to  again  quote  Chief  Justice 
Clark,  'This  is  a  free  country,  and  any  man  has  a  right 
to  be  treated  by  any  system  he  chooses."  Whoever  thinks 
that  spiritual  knowledge  is  more  effective  and  reliable  in 
case  of  sickness  than  material  knowledge,  has  the  right  to 
act  accordingly.  For,  as  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  says,  liberty  is  "simply  the  right  to  do 
that  which  one  deems  best,  subject  to  the  limitation  that  it 
does  not  interfere  with  the  equal  rights  of  other  members  of 
the  community."     (American  Citizenship,  p.  87.) 

The  fact  that  the  practice  of  medicine  is  not  an  exact 
science,  but  is  confessedly  a  mere  process  of  experimenta- 
tion, and  the  fact  that  thousands  upon  thousands  of  per- 
sons— constituting  a  consijderable  and  a  respectable  part  of 
the  community — hold  to  the  opinion,  based  on  their  own 
knowledge,  observation,  and  experience,  and  the  known 
experience  of  others,  that  Christian  Science  furnishes  the 
most  effective  and  reliable  curative  method  known  to  hu- 
manity— these  facts  alone,  not  to  mention  the  other  con- 
siderations weighing  with  them,  should  dissuade  the 
members  of  legislatures  from  attempting,  by  law,  to  deprive 
these  citizens  of  their  freedom  of  choice.  Any  such  law, 
whether  attempting  the  result  directly  or  by  indirection, 
must  necessarily  be  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  American 
institutions,  and  deprive  citizens  not  only  of  their  religious 
liberty  but  of  their  individual  liberty  as  citizens  of  a  free 
country. 

To  again  quote  from  Governor  Peabody's  veto  message: 
"Guided  by  the  late  experience  of  similar  legislation  in  other 
States,  the  conclusion  is  irresistible,  that  all  such  legisla- 
tion has  a  tendency  to  restrict  the  citizen  in  the  employment 
of  whomsoever  he  pleases  in  the  treatment  of  his  diseases, 
and  it  also  has  a  tendency  to  build  up,  under  the  protection 
of  the  State,  a  trust  or  combination  of  certain  schools  of 
medicine,  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others  equally  meritorious." 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  33 

And  to  again  quote  from  the  message  by  which  Governor 
Thomas  of  Colorado  vetoed  a  bill  for  an  act  designed  to 
suppress  the  practice  of  Christian  Science,  by  requiring  all 
who  practise  healing  to  pass  an  examination  in  materia 
medica  and  kindred  subjects : — 

"The  department  of  surgery  excepted,  medicine  is  not  a 
science.  It  is  a  series  of  experiments  more  or  less  success- 
ful, and  will  become  a  science  when  the  laws  of  health 
and  disease  are  fully  ascertained  and  understood.  This 
can  be  done,  not  by  arresting  the  progress  of  experiment, 
and  binding  men  down  to  hard-and-fast  rules  of  treatment, 
but  by  giving  free  rein  to  the  man  who  departs  from  the 
beaten  highway  and  discovers  hidden  methods  and  remedies 
by  the  wayside.  .  .  . 

'The  tru-e  intent  and  purpose  of  the  bill  is  to  restrict  the 
profession  of  medicine  to  the  three  schools  therein  men- 
tioned and  then  limit  the  number  of  practitioners  to  suit  the 
judgment  of  the  composite  board.  People  desiring  medical 
or  surgical  service  may  employ  its  licentiates  or  die  without 
the  consolations  of  the  healer.  This  is  but  to  say  that  a 
medical  trust  is  to  be  established  w^hic'h  shall  regulate  de*- 
mand  and  supply  by  absolute  control  of  the  product  which 
forms  its  basis,  the  General  Assembly  furnishing  the  appli- 
ances whereby  the  trust  shall  become  effectual. 

"The  integrity  and  usefulness  of  every  profession  must 
be  guaranteed  to  society,  which  may  estabhsh  standards 
for  the  members  thereof  and  for  the  observance  of  which 
its  sanction  should  be  given.  Beyond  this,  each  profession 
takes  care  of  itself,  and  legislative  interference  is  tyranny, 
open  or  disguised.  .  .  . 

"The  fundamental  vice  of  the  bill  is  that  it  denies  ab- 
solutely to  the  individual  the  right  to  select  his  own  physi- 
cian. This  is  a  right  of  conscience,  and  as  sacred  as  that 
which  enables  the  citizen  to  worship  God  as  he  may  desire. 
It  is  indeed  the  same  right  manifesting  itself  in  a  parallel 
direction.  It  is  a  part  of  the  law  of  this  land,  and  no  civil 
power  is  strong  enough  to  deprive  the  citizen  of  its  exer- 
cise. He  may  indeed  select  a  healer  of  doubtful  reputation 
or  conceded  incc«npetence,  but  that  is  his  affair  just  as  much 


34  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

as  is  his  choice  of  a  minister  or  attorney.  His  action  may 
prove  injurious,  possibly  fatal,  to  himself  or  to  some  mem- 
bers of  his  family.  It  is  better  so  than  to  delegate  to  any 
tribunal  the  power  to  say  'thou  shalt  not  employ  this  man' 
or  *thou  shalt  employ  this  one.'  That  this  bill  produces 
such  a  result  indirectly  makes  it  the  more  objectionable. 
It  is  not  the  outspoken  and  aggressive  assault  upon  in- 
dividual liberty  that  men  should  fear,  but  the  indirect  or 
resultant  blow  that  is  masked  and  falls  unexpectedly. 

'The  bill,  like  all  kindred  forms  of  paternalism,  assumes 
that  the  citizen  cannot  take  care  of  himself.  The  State  must 
lead  him  as  a  little  child,  lest  he  fall  into  trouble  unawares. 
He  must  be  guarded  and  chided,  limited  here  and  licensed 
there,  for  his  own  protection.  Such  a  system,  bom  of  the 
union  of  Church  and  State,  crumbles  into  ashes  in  the  cruci- 
ble of  experience.  It  cannot  flourish,  though  disguised  in 
the  garments  of  an  alleged  public  necessity.  The  privilege 
of  choosing  one's  own  physician  is  a  positive  essential  to  the 
public  health.  Yet  this  bill  assumes  to  thrust  the  coarse 
machinery  of  the  criminal  law  into  one  of  the  most  sacred 
relations  of  human  life,  to  drag  the  chosen  physician,  if  un- 
licensed, from  the  sick-couch  to  the  prison  cell,  and  to 
substitute  for  him  some  one  who,  however  exalted  and 
honorable,  may  not  command  the  confidence  or  secure  the 
sympathy  of  his  patient. 

'These  comments  are  not  extreme,  for  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  those  who  believe  in  and  patronize  the 
various  arts  of  healing  that  are  ostracized  by  this  bill  form  a 
very  large  part  of  every  community,  nor  are  they  confined 
to  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  portions  of  society.  They 
number  in  their  ranks  thousands  of  the  most  refined,  in- 
telligent, and  conscientious  people.  They  recognize  in  many 
modern  forms  of  relief  to  the  suffering  a  religious  or 
spiritual  element  that  appeals  to  their  best  and  tenderest 
sympathies.  The  benefits  they  claim  and  the  cures  they 
narrate  are  not  imaginary.  Shall  the  government  enact 
by  statute  that  these  people  shall  not  longer  enjoy  their 
benefits  or  put  them  into  daily  practice?  Shall  it  officially 
declare  these  people  to  be  criminally  wrong  and  the  three 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  35 

schools  legally  right?  By  what  authority  does  it  so  de- 
clare ? 

"A  distinguished  physician  of  Massachusetts  has  recently 
declared  with  force  that  *the  commonwealth  has  no  right 
to  a  medical  opinion  and  should  not  dare  to  take  sides  in  a 
medical  controversy.'  It  would  be  as  consistent  to  take 
sides  in  a  theological  or  philosophical  discussion.  The 
one  would  be  condemned  by  all  men;  the  other  is  equally 
foreign  to  the  province  of  government.  It  may  regulate, 
but  cannot  prohibit  the  calling  of  the  citizens;  it  may 
prevent  the  commission  of  wrongs,  but  cannot  deprive  the 
individual  of  the  right  to  choose  his  own  advisers." 

Governor  Charles  S.  Thomas  is  a  profound  student  of 
law  and  government,  whose  personal  character  and  pro- 
fessional attainments  should  give  especial  weight  to  his 
official  utterances. 

After  four  unsuccessful  attempts  by  medical  doctors  to 
obtain  legislation  against  Christian  Science  in  Colorado 
(a.d.  1899,  1 90 1,  1903^  ^"d  1905),  the  law  of  that  State 
regulating  the  practice  of  medicine  now  contains  this 
provision :  ^'Nothing  in  this  Act  shall  be  construed  to  pro- 
hibit the  practice  of  the  religious  tenets  or  general  beliefs 
of  any  church  whatsoever,  not  prescribing  medicine  nor 
administering  drugs."  Eleven  States  and  one  territory 
(Indian  Territory,  by  act  of  Congress)  now  have  similar 
provisions.  See  page  109.  Such  exceptions  in  laws  reg- 
ulating the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  are  valid  and 
constitutional.  This  has  been  decided  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Kansas.  (State  v.  Wilcox,  64  Kan.  789,  68  Pac. 
634.)  However,  the  absence  of  such  a  provision  does  not 
show  that  Christian  Science  practice  is  prohibited.  Statutes 
which  are  really  designed  to  regulate  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery — which  contain  no  curiously  wrought 
definitions  of  this  phrase,  extending  it  beyond  its  ordinary 
and  natural  meaning — do  not  apply  to  the  practice  of 
Christian  Science.  This  has  been  decided  by  several  courts. 
For  instance,  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Rhode  Island  (State 
V.  Mylod,  20  R.  I.  632,  40  Atl.  753,  41  L.  R.  A.  428). 

While  it  is  true  that  an  express  exception  in  favor  of  the 


36  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

practice  of  Christian  Science  or  the  practice  of  rehgion  is 
not  necessary  in  a  statute  which  is  confined  to  regulating 
the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery,  nevertheless,  where 
new  legislation  is  being  enacted  and  the  legislature  desires 
to  deal  fairly  with  citizens  who  believe  in  Christian  Science, 
the  better  plan  is  tO'  insert  such  a  provision  in  the  law, 
and  thus  avoid  any  controversy  as  to  its  meaning.  Now- 
adays many  of  the  bills  on  this  subject  are  very  artfully 
drawn. 

XI. 

The  mistake  has  commonly  been  made,  even  by  our 
friends,  of  viewing  much  too  narrowly  the  questions  in- 
volved in  Christian  Science  and  legislation.  It  has  been 
assumed  that  the  right  to  religious  liberty  is  the  only  right 
involved,  whereas,  the  right  to  equal  privileges  and  im- 
munities, the  right  to  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws,  and 
the  right  to  civil  or  individual  liberty  in  general,  are  also 
involved;  and  it  has  been  assumed  that  only  the  rights 
of  those  who  practise  Christian  Science  as  a  vocation  are 
involved,  whereas,  the  rights  of  all  persons  to  resort  to  every 
known  method  to  recover  health  and  preserve  life,  and  their 
rights  tO'  make  contracts  of  employment  to  that  end,  are 
also  involved. 

It  is  impossible  to  forbid  Christian  Scientists  to  practise 
healing,  or  to  practise  healing  for  compensation,  without 
thereby  abridging  the  rights  of  all  other  persons  tO'  employ 
them.  "The  liberty  of  contract  relating  to  labor  includes 
both  parties  to  it.  The  one  has  as  much  right  to  purchase 
as  the  other  to  sell  labor."  (Lochner  v.  New  York,  198 
U.  S.  45.)  And  as  the  Supreme  Court  of  New  Hampshire 
recently  said  when  deciding  a  case  in  favor  of  a  Christian 
Scientist,  'Tf  it  was  illegal  for  the  defendant  to  treat  the 
plaintiff  as  he  did,  it  was  equally  illegal  for  her  either  to 
employ  him  to  give  her  such  treatment,  or  to  consent  to  be 
so  treated."     (Spead  v.  Tomlinson,  59  Atl.  376;  68  L.  R.  A. 

432.) 

Let  us  apply  this  rule  to  the  case  of  a  man  whom  medical 
doctors  have  pronounced  incurable    and    whom    Christian 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION.  37 

Science  might  cure,  as  it  has  in  many  such  cases.  A  very 
large  number  of  the  members  of  Christian  Science  churches 
are  Hving  witnesses  to  this  fact.  If  the  law  provides  that 
none  but  medical  doctors  may  practise  healing  for  com- 
pensation, it  will  thereby  forbid  the  man  whom  they  cannot 
heal  from  employing  a  practitioner  of  a  method  which 
has  cured  a  great  many  such  cases  and  might  cure  him. 
He  can  only  obtain  the  services  of  such  practitioner  by 
asking  it  as  a  gratuitous  favor  or  by  soliciting  him  to  com- 
mit a  crime. 

Suppose  the  law  provides  that  none  but  medical  doctors 
may  practise  healing  at  all.  It  will  then  be  criminal  for 
a  man  whom  they  cannot  heal  to  attempt  to  obtain  relief 
through  the  practitioners  of  any  other  system.  The  mem- 
bers of  a  legislature  who  vote  for  such  a  law  will  thereby 
unite  in  saying  to  every  man  whom  the  medical  doctors 
cannot  heal,  ''The  medical  system  is  the  State  system  of 
healing;  if  it  can't  cure  you,  you  must  be  deemed,  in 
point  of  law,  to  be  incurable!"  They  will  unite  in  saying 
to  every  man  in  physical  extremity,  'Tf  the  medical  doctors 
can't  save  you,  your  death  must  be  deemed  to  be  legally  in- 
evitable!" Who,  knowing  the  uncertainty  of  their  reme- 
dies, wants  to  assume  such  responsibility?  If  legislators 
are  willing  to  assume  such  responsibility,  by  what  right  or 
authority  can  they  do  so,  and  what  constituency  would  they 
represent  in  so  doing?  When  a  man's  life  is  in  danger 
he  ought  to  be  free  to  seek  relief  by  all  means  whatsoever. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  power  of  the  State  to 
prohibit  persons  from  engaging  in  the  practice  of  medicine 
and  surgery  ^vithout  having  the  education  appropriate  to 
that  profession,  but  has  the  State  power  to  enact,  further, 
that  whoever  practises  healing  for  compensation,  though 
by  prayer  alone,  shall  be  deemed  to  be  engaged  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  and  surgery?  Has  the  State  the  power, 
by  means  of  legislation,  to  make  that  the  practice  of  medi- 
cine or  surgery  which  is  not,  and  does  not  profess  to  be, 
the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery?  Can  a  legislature 
change  a  fact  or  alter  the  inherent  qualities  of  things  ? 

Suppose  the  law  provides  that  none  but  the  graduates  of 


38  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND    LEGISLATION. 

certain  medical  colleges  can  practise  medicine  and  snr^'erv, 
and  that  whoever  practises  healing-  for  conij^ensation, 
though  by  prayer  alone,  shall  ])e  deemed  to  he  engaged  in 
the  ])ractice  of  medicine  and  snrgerv.  Many  snch  hills 
have  been  introduced.  In  ])ractical  effect  it  i)rovides  that 
the  i)racticc  of  Christian  Science  shrdl  be  the  same  as  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  stu'gery  when  a  fee  is  charged 
but  diff'ercnt  when  a  fee  is  not  charged,  and  that  it  shall 
be  unlawful  when  a  fee  is  charged  l)ut  lawful  when  a  fee 
is  not  charged.  It  makes  ])rohibition  or  i)ermission  depend, 
not  upon  the  character  of  the  ])ractice.  but  ui)on  a  collateral 
circumstance  in  no  wise  affecting  the  character  or  (|ualities 
of  the  ])ract!ce.  Can  such  a  law  be  a  legitimate  exercise  of 
the  i)olice  i)o\ver?  is  an  "effectual,  ferxcnt  ])ra\-er,"  volun- 
tarih'  souglc  by  the  sick  and  used  as  a  means  for  healmg, 
intrinsicv'dlv  crinu'nal  ?  I  heiL  if  it  is  not  intrinsicalK'  crimi- 
nal, is  a  criuiinal  (juahtv  added  to  it  bv  com])cnsation  ? 

"In  order  that  a  statute  or  ordinance  may  be  sustained  as 
an  exercise  of  the  ])olice  ixuxer,  the  courts  must  be  able  to 
sec  (  i)  that  the  enactment  has  for  its  object  the  i)re\-ention 
(ff  some  oft'ence  or  manifest  e\il,  (n  the  preservation  of  the 
])ublic  health,  safety,  morals,  or  general  welfare,  and  (  2  ) 
that  there  is  some  clear,  real,  and  substantial  connectii^u 
between  the  nssumed  ]nu-])ose  n\  the  enactment  and  the 
actual  proxisions  there(^f,  and  that  the  latter  do  in  some 
])lain,  ai)precial)le,  and  ai)proi:)riat€  manner  tend  t(nvar(ls 
the  accomplishment  of  the  ol)ject  Uv:  which  the  ])ower  is 
exercised.  The  ])olice  ptnver  cannot  be  used  as  a  cloak  for 
the  in\-asi(^n  of  ])ersonal  rights  or  prixate  ])r(^perty.  neither 
can  it  be  exercised  for  ])rivate  puqxxses,  (^r  f(^r  the  exclusixe 
l)enetit  of  jiarticular  individuals  (^r  classes."  (American  and 
Rnglish  Rncyc1oi>edia  o\  Caw  \ 2(\  ed.],  \'<d.  22.  i).  938.) 

"It  is  t(^  be  ob,served.  therefiMX.  that  the  i^olice  power  oi 
the  government,  as  understood  in  the  constitutional  law  of 
the  Ignited  States,  is  sinij^ly  the  power  of  the  g(n-ernment 
to  establish  pnnisiiMis  f<M-  the  enforcement  of  the  common 
as  well  as  civil  law  maxim,  .S'/V  iifcrc  fiio  iif  alicinnii  uou 
lacdas  (So  use  vour  own  that  another  vou  mav  not  injureC 
Any  law   which   goes  beyond  that   principle,   which   under- 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCES  AND   LEGISLATION.  30 

takes  to  abolish  rights,  the  exercise  of  which  does  not  in- 
volve an  infringement  of  the  rights  of  others,  or  to  Hmit  the 
exercise  of  rights  beyond  what  is  necessary  to  provide  for 
the  pubHc  welfare  and  the  general  security,  cannot  be  in- 
cluded in  the  police  power  of  the  government.  It  is  a  gov- 
ernmental usurpation,  and  violates  the  principles  of  abstract 
justice,  as  they  have  been  developed  under  our  republican 
institutions."  (Tiedeman,  State  and  Federal  Control  of 
Persons  and  Property,  sec.  i.) 

When  such  bills  are  under  consideration.  Christian  Sci- 
entists are  sometimes  asked  whether  the  receiving  of  com- 
pensation is  a  part  of  their  religion.  It  would  be  more 
pertinent  to  inquire  whether  the  receiving  of  compensation 
for  the  service  they  render  is  inimical  to  the  peace,  good 
order,  and  morals  of  society  when  the  service  itself  is  not 
of  that  character.  A  good  act  is  not  made  hannful  to  the 
community  by  compensation.  The  Founder  of  the  Christian 
religion  said,  ''The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire."  This 
Christian  precept  has  become  a  legal  maxim.  It  is  cited  by 
the  courts  and  is  a  part  of  the  law  of  the  land.  ''When  one 
person  renders  services  for  another,  which  are  known  to 
and  accepted  by  him,  the  law  ordinarily  implies  a  promise 
to  pay  therefor.  (Beach,  Modern  Law  of  Contracts,  Vol.  i, 
sec.  642.)  Christian  Scientists  are  expected  to  observe 
this  rule  of  law  when  they  are  the  recipients  of  any  service, 
and  no  good  reason  can  be  given  for  discriminating  against 
them  when  they  serve  others.  If  no  benefits  were  found 
to  result  from  their  ministrations,  there  would  be  no  de- 
mand for  them.  Since  there  is  a  demand  for  the  services 
of  Christian  Science  practitioners,  the  subject  of  compensa- 
tion should  be  left  to  the  parties  w^ho  render  and  receive  the 
service,  as  it  always  is  left  in  identical  situations. 

It  should  be  added  that  a  Christian  Scientist  who  gives 
his  entire  thought  to  the  ministry  of  healing  is,  as  a  rule, 
better  qualified  than  one  who  divides  his  time  between  this 
work  and  some  other  vocation,  and  it  is  obvious  that  he 
cannot  give  all  his  time  to  healing  without  compensation. 

The  reader  is  requested  to  pause  and  apply  the  rules  just 
quoted  from  standard  law  books    to   a    law    which    tacitly 


40  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

recognizes  that  the  service  rendered  by  Christian  Science 
practitioners  is  a  lawful  service  but  which  indirectly  forbids 
them  to  receive  compensation  therefor.  Tested  by  such 
rules,  would  the  law  be  valid  or  invalid,  just  or  unjust? 
The  fact  is  that  bills  which  call  for  the  enactment  of  such 
laws  are  neither  calculated  nor  intended  to  subserve  the 
legitimate  purposes  of  government.  What  would  be  said  or 
thought  of  a  law  so  contrived  as  indirectly  to  forbid  physi- 
cians and  clergymen  to  receive  compensation  for  their 
services  ? 

XII. 

Many  persons  habitually  commence  the  discussion  of 
Christian  Science  and  legislation  by  begging  a  number  of 
important  questions.  They  assume  that  the  drug  system  is 
scientific  in  its  practice  and  certain  in  its  results ;  that  Chris- 
tian Science  does  not  heal  anybody,  or  if  it  did,  they  were 
not  sick;  that  Christian  Scientists  are  actuated  by  religious 
fanaticism  and  not  by  reason  and  convincing  experience,  and 
that  their  children  are  placed  at  a  pitiful  disadvantage  and 
die  in  unnumbered  instances  when  a  drugging  doctor  would 
have  saved  them.  These  assumptions  are  wholly  gra- 
tuitous and  erroneous. 

Replying  to  similar  arguments  before  a  committee  of  the 
Massachusetts  legislature  in  1898,  William  Lloyd  Garrison 
said :  "One  has  only  to  read  the  candid  opinions  of  eminent 
physicians  of  long  practice  tO'  realize  how  tentative  and 
purely  experimental  is  the  science  of  medicine.  The  death 
of  a  patient  under  'irregular  treatment,'  although  it  may 
be  demonstrated  that  the  greatest  care  and  intelligence  w^ere 
used,  is  heralded  abroad  as  something  scandalous  and  dread- 
ful, but  if  any  regular  physician  were  tO'  make  public  the 
deaths  coming  to  his  knowledge  from  misapprehension  of 
the  disease,  or  because  of  mistaken  remedies  used,  the  public 
might  well  be  alarmed. 

'*A  statement  of  the  truth  is  not  to  disparage  the  noble 
body  of  men  and  women  who  give  their  lives  and  thoughts 
to  this  divine  service  of  humanity,  but  it  is  to  remind  them 
of  their  fallibility,  and  to  bespeak  their  tolerance  for  others 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION.  4I 

having  the  same  high  end.  They  must  know,  as  every 
unbiased  observer  is  forced  to  recognize,  that  evidences  of 
cures  by  practitioners  not  recognized  by  the  'regular 
schools,'  abound  in  this  and  other  communities.  The  fact 
must  be  patent  to  them  because  so'  many  of  their  own  pa- 
tients have  found  benefit  at  the  hands  of  mental  and  other 
healers  whom  it  is  now  proposed  to  disable  and  drive  out. 
This  bill  is  aimed  not  at  failure  but  at  success.  If  uni- 
formly bad  results  came  from  'irregular  practice,'  the  evil 
would  soon  stamp  itself  out.  The  contrary  is  the  fact,  and 
because  of  the  increasing  number  who  in  despair  resort  to 
a  trial  of  the  new  faith,  this  scheme  is  launched  in  the 
pecuniary  interest  of  the  profession.  It  is  in  essence  the 
spirit  of  paternalism,  which  in  trusts  and  protective  laws  is 
everywhere  active  and  hostile  to  the  public  weal." 

Appended  to  this  article  are  the  testimonies  of  a  number 
of  persons  who  have  been  healed  by  Christian  Science,  and 
the  original  testimonies  are  in  the  hands  of  the  editor  of 
the  Christian  Science  periodicals,  250  Huntington  Avenue, 
Boston,  Mass.  These  cases  of  healing  will  bear  investi- 
gation, and  they  represent  many  thousand  of  the  same 
remarkable  character.  Attention  is  respectfully  called  to 
the  nature  of  the  various  diseases  referred  to,  and  the  fact 
of  medical  diagnosis  and  attendance  in  most  cases.  These 
testimonies  were  all  received  during  the  present  year. 

Christian  Science  is  the  most  practical  thing  on  earth. 
Its  adherents  have  accepted  it  on  the  basis  of  actual  results ; 
and  they  want  it  for  their  children  in  preference  to  materia 
medica  because  they  have  been  convinced  of  its  value. 
Thousands  of  children  have  been  healed  through  Christian 
Science  of  contagious  diseases,  of  chronic  invalidism,  and  of 
hideous  deformity,  after  drugs  and  all  other  means  have 
failed.  Some  may  think  that  parents  neglect  their  chil- 
dren when  they  rely  on  Christian  Science  alone,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  such  conduct  is  not  neglect;  it  is  intelligent 
dependence  upon  the  most  adequate  and  efficient  remedy 
they  have  found. 

Let  us  suppose  the  case  of  parents,  one  or  both  of  whom 
have  been  restored  to  health  by  Christian  Science,  after  they 


42  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

had  employed  medical  doctors  for  years  and  been  pro- 
nounced incurable.  One  of  their  children  is  taken  sick,  and 
the  question  is,  What  ought  they  to  do?  Public  opinion 
would  be  divided.  Some  persons  would  say.  Send  for  a 
Christian  Science  practitioner.  Others  would  say,  Call  in 
a  woman  who  has  raised  a  larg^e  family  and  understands 
the  care  of  children.  Others  would  say.  Call  a  homoeopathic 
doctor.  Others  would  say,  Call  an  allopathic  doctor;  and 
yet  other  opinions  too  numerous  to  mention  would  be  en- 
tertained. 

Now  who  is  to  decide  this  question  ?  Shall  it  be  decided 
beforehand  by  the  majority  of  a  group  of  gentlemen  answer^ 
ing  *'Aye"  to  a  roll-call  under  the  gilded  dome  of  a  State- 
house?  Or  shall  the  choice  be  left  with  the  child's  parents, 
who  are  its  natural  guardians,  who  are  at  the  bedside  and 
to  whom  the  little  one's  life  means  more  than  it  does  to  all 
other  persons?  And  if  the  decision  is  to  be  left  with 
the  parents,  what  reasons  should  govern  their  choice? 
Ought  they  to  resolve  to  continue  the  use  of  Christian  Sci- 
ence for  themselves,  but  decide  to  employ  a  less  efficacious 
method — and  one  which  they  have  already  tried  and  found 
wanting — for  their  child? 

After  all,  the  question  is  one  of  results.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  mortality  of  children  under  medical  treatment  is 
very  great,  and  parents  who  have  found  a  superior  method 
will  naturally  resort  to  that  system  whose  known  results 
inspire  them  with  the  strongest  hope. 

Why  not  employ  both  materia  medica  and  Christian  Sci- 
ence, both  drugs  and  prayer?  is  a  question  sometimes 
asked.  The  theory  of  Christian  Science  as  to  the  cause 
and  cure  of  disease  is  the  extreme  opposite  of  the  theory  of 
materia  medica.  So  also  faith  in  the  supremacy  of  God, 
and  reliance  on  mindless  drugs  are  opposites,  and  cannot 
possibly  amalgamate  as  coincident  factors  in  procuring  a 
recovery  of  the  sick.  The  fact  that  the  prayers  of  those 
who  substitute  faith  in  drugs  for  faith  in  God  do  not  heal, 
suggests  that  prayer  and  drugs  are  incompatible.  It  is 
sometimes  said  that  there  is  ample  time  for  prayer  after  we 
have  used  all  the  means  known  to  the  medical  art.     In  the 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  43 

last  analysis  such  a  statement  is  based  upon  one  or  both 
of  these  propositions:  i.  God  heals  through  drugs.  2.  He 
does  not  heal  through  prayer  under  ordinary  circumstances. 
Christian  Science  denies  both  propositions  and  points  to  the 
example  of  Christ  Jesus,  who  used  no  drugs. 

XIIL 

A  bill  expressly  directed  against  the  practice  of  Christian 
Science  is  seldom  introduced  into  a  legislature.  The  com- 
monest bill  is  one  usually  entitled,  "A  bill  for  an  act  to 
regulate  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery."  It  provides 
that  no  one  shall  practise  medicine  and  surgery  in  any  of 
its  branches  without  first  obtaining  a  certificate  based  on  a 
certain  course  of  study,  it  being  the  course  of  study  needed 
for  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery.  After  creating  a 
board  to  examine  applicants  and  grant  or  refuse  certificates, 
the  bill  proceeds  to  depart  from  its  proclaimed  purpose,  and 
undertakes  to  stifle  competition.  To  this  end  one  section  of 
the  bill  is  in  the  form  of  a  definition  of  the  practice  of  medir 
cine  and  surgery.  In  fact  it  is  a  fictitious  definition,  includ- 
ing what  every  intelligent  man  knows  is  not  such  practice 
— if  his  attention  is  called  to  the  effect  of  the  language 
used.  The  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery  is  defined  in 
language  broad  enough  to  include  not  only  such  practice 
as  it  is  popularly  known,  but  some  or  all  of  the  various 
other  curative  methods  which  medical  doctors  regard  as 
competitive  methods.  When  Christian  Science  is  being 
attacked,  the  spurious  definition  is  broad  enough  to  include 
healing  the  sick  by  prayer. 

Of  course  no  one  expects  that  Christian  Scientists  will  be- 
take themselves  to  medical  colleges,  devote  the  half  of  three 
or  four  years  to  studying  the  teachings  of  a  system  which 
they  do  not  intend  to  practise,  and  go  before  a  board  of 
medical  doctors  to  ask  their  official  permission  to  practise 
Christian  Science.  That  is  not  the  purpose  of  such  a  bill. 
Passing  without  comment  the  situation  of  a  Christian  Sci- 
entist at  a  medical  college  or  before  a  board  of  medical 
examiners,  he  would  have  absolutely  no  use  for  the  sort  of 
learning  implied  by  the  possession  of  their  certificate  or  tke . 


44  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

diploma  of  a  medical  college.  An  ordinary  education  sup- 
plies all  the  information  upon  material  subjects  which  is 
needed  for  the  successful  practice  of  Christian  Science.  A 
considerable  number  of  medical  doctors  have  abandoned 
their  former  practice  and  become  practitioners  of  Christian 
Science,  and  yet  they  are  not  more  in  demand,  nor  more 
successful  than  other  Christian  Science  practitioners.  The 
fact  is  that  the  teachings  of  materia  medica  and  Christian 
Science  are,  for  the  most  part,  antithetical.  That  which  one 
regards  as  truth,  knowledge,  or  science,  the  other  repudi- 
ates as  error.  In  short,  the  study  and  instruction  which  a 
Christian  Scientist  would  be  obliged  to  undergo  at  a  medical 
college  would  not  help  him  to  heal  the  sick  through  spiritual 
means.  And  this  does  not  imply  that  the  practice  of 
Christian  Science  is  based  upon  ignorance.  It  means  that 
the  practice  of  Christian  Science  is  based  upon  spiritual 
knowledge  or  understanding — upon  the  words  and  works 
of  Christ  Jesus — the  only  infallible  physician  known  to 
history — who  taught  that  Spirit  and  the  knowledge  of  Spirit 
is  life-giving  and  sufficient,  while  matter  and  material 
knowledge  is  unprofitable,  and  who  did  not  employ  drugs, 
but  prayer. 

While  Christian  Scientists  believe  that  the  knowledge  of 
Spirk  and  spiritual  law  and  the  prayer  of  spiritual  under- 
standing constitute  a  perfect  equipment  for  the  prevention 
and  cure  of  disease,  they  frankly  admit  their  present  need 
of  increased  understanding  and  further  spiritual  growth. 
Nevertheless  they  have  already  proved  by  practical  results 
that  Christian  Science  is  a  scientific  religion  applicable  to 
all  human  needs.  To  compel  them  to  study  medicine  and 
surgery  would  involve  the  absurdity  of  requiring  the  prac- 
titioners of  a  system  which  has  cured  and  can  cure  malig- 
nant cancers,  inaccessible  tumors,  and  the  like,  to  study  the 
teachings  of  a  system  which  has ,  no  remedy  for  such  dis- 
eases. The  gist  of  such  a  law  as  applied  to  a  large  per- 
centage of  cases  would  be  simply  this:  The  system  which 
heals  cannot  operate  without  the  permission  of  the  system 
which  fails.  It  should  also  be  said  that  Christian  Scien- 
tists scrupulously  observe  quarantine  laws  and  submit  to  vac- 


CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  45 

cination  whenever  required  to  do  so.  They  thus  respect  the 
rights  of  those  who  fear  contagious  diseases. 

To  return  to  the  subject  of  masked  attacks :  It  is  to  be 
seen  that  a  definition  of  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery, 
so  worded  as  to  include  heahng  by  prayer,  is  a  mere  sub- 
terfuge or  artifice.  The  bill  which  contains  it  is  not  really 
designed  to  regulate  the  practice  of  medicine  and  surgery, 
but  to  restrict  the  practice  of  healing  to  doctors  of  medicine. 
This  fact  has  been  recognized  by  the  governors  whose  vetoes 
of  bills  of  this  character  are  referred  to  in  the  eighth 
division  of  this  article.  In  doing  so,  they  applied  the 
approved  rule  that  the  purpose  and  validity  of  statutes  must 
be  determined  "from  the  natural  effect  of  such  statutes 
when  put  into  operation,  and  not  from  their  proclaimed 
purpose."      (Lochner  v.  New  York,  198  U.  S.  45.) 

There  is  a  good  reason  why  the  State  should  not  permit 
a  man  to  profess  to  be  a  doctor  of  medicine  or  a  surgeon, 
and  accept  employment  as  such,  without  having  the  educa- 
tion appropriate  to  that  profession.  The  practice  of  medi- 
cine and  surgery  requires  study  and  knowledge  upon  certain 
subjects,  without  which  the  practitioner's  services  are  not 
merely  worthless,  but  dangerous,  owing  to  the  use  of  drugs 
and  surgical  instruments. 

There  is  also  a  reason,  and  it  may  be  a  good  one,  why 
the  State  should  provide  a  board  of  competent  persons  to 
examine  all  who  want  to  practise  medicine  and  surgery  and 
give  certificates  to  those  who  are  found  tO'  possess  at  least 
the  minimum  qualifications  requisite  for  such  practice. 
Possibly  the  average  man  who  decides  to  employ  a  medical 
doctor  is  not  in  a  position  to  determine  the  qualifications  of 
any  particular  practitioner  before  employing  him,  and  must 
•rely  on  the  assurance  provided  by  his  certificate.  But 
there  is  no  good  reason  why  the  State  should  go  beyond 
this  and  restrict  the  practice  of  healing  to  those  who  have 
been  educated  to  practise  medicine  and  surgery.  On  the 
contrary,  there  are  many  good  reasons  why  the  State  should 
not  do  so.  Some  of  these  have  already  been  given  in  differ- 
ent places  throughout  this  article. 

One  good  reason  why  the  State  should  not  attempt  to 


46  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

restrict  the  practice  of  healing  to  those  who  have  been  edu- 
cated to  practise  medicine  and  surgery  is  that  the  pubUc 
does  not  need  such  a  law.  Every  sane  man  is  able  to 
distinguish  and  choose  for  himself  between  materia  medica 
and  Christian  Science.  Even  the  paternal  government  of 
Germany  concedes  this  and  more.  "The  German  law 
substitutes  the  principle  that  the  designation  as  physician 
or  doctor  is  reserved  to  those  only  who  have  complied  with 
the  proper  tests  of  qualification;  without  the  use  of  a  title 
indicating  professional  standing  any  one  may  practise  medi- 
cine." (Freund,  Police  Power,  sec.  495.)  This  author 
adds,  "It  is  difficult  to  see  why  this  policy  does  not  afford 
all  the  guarantees  to  which  the  public  is  entitled  or  which 
it  needs.  It  has  the  advantage  that  it  cannot  be  used  for 
the  restriction  of  competition." 

Where  there  are  several  different  curative  methods  known 
to  men,  patients  have  a  right  to  choose  and  employ  any  of 
them.  A  law  which  discriminates  between  known  methods, 
approving  one  or  more  and  condemning  all  others,  deprives 
patients  of  such  right,  creates  a  monopoly  and  in  effect  es- 
tablishes a  State  system  of  healing,  and,  the  exercise  of  a 
religion  being  involved,  it  practically  establishes  a  State 
religion.  Such  a  law  cannot  in  the  very  nature  of  things  be 
a  legitimate  exercise  of  the  police  power. 

"The  right  to  choose  one's  course  of  action  even  to  the 
extent  of  incurring  risks,  where  others  are  not  concerned, 
is  a  part  of  individual  liberty."  "The  police  power  does  not 
undertake  to  protect  the  individual  against  his  own  acts, 
partly  because  that  would  involve  an  inquisitorial  control 
over  private  life  and  conduct  both  intolerable  and  unen- 
forceable, partly  because  the  police  power  ought  not  and  is 
not  intended  to  be  a  substitute  for  individual  self-control, 
and  responsibility,  but  finds  its  proper  sphere  in  guarding 
against  evils  and  dangers  beyond  the  control  of  him  whom 
they  threaten."     (Freund,  Police  Power,  sec.  155.) 

The  following  quotations  are  pertinent  in  this  connection. 
"The  State  has  not  restricted  the  cure  of  the  body  to  the 
practice  of  medicine  and  surgery — 'allopathy,'  as  it  is 
termed — nor  required  that,  before  any  one  can  be  treated 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION.  47 

for  any  bodily  ill,  the  physician  must  have  acquired  a  com- 
petent knowledge  of  allopathy  and  be  licensed  by  those 
skilled  therein.  To  do  that  would  be  to  limit  progress  by 
establishing  allopathy  as  the  State  system  of  healing,  and 
forbidding  all  others.  This  would  be  as  foreign  to  our 
system  as  a  State  church  for  the  cure  of  souls."  (State  v. 
McKnight,  131  N.  C.  723,  42  S.  E.  580,  59  L.  R.  A.  187.) 

"Those  not  M.D.'s  contend  that  the  allopathic  system  of 
practice  is  contrary  to  the  discoveries  of  science,  and  in- 
jurious to  the  public.  Some  M.D.'s  doubtless  believe  that 
all  treatment  of  disease,  except  by  their  own  system,  is 
quackery.  Is  this  point  to  be  decided  by  the  M.D.'s  them- 
selves, through  an  examining  committee  of  five  of  their 
own  number,  or  is  the  public  the  tribunal  to  decide,  by  em- 
ploying whom  each  man  prefers,  whether  allopath,  homoeo^ 
path,  osteopath,  or  the  defendant?  The  law  says  that 
the  M.D.'s  may  examine  and  certify  whether  an  applicant 
is  competent  to  be  one  of  their  number,  and  no  one  can 
practise  medicine  and  surgery  without  it;  but  they  cannot 
decide  for  mankind  that  their  own  system  of  healing  is  now 
and  ever  shall  be  the  only  correct  one,  and  that  all  oithers 
are  to  be  repressed  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law.  .  .  . 

"The  public  have  a  right  to  know  that  those  holding 
themselves  out  as  members  of  that  ancient  and  honorable 
profession'  are  competent  and  duly  licensed  as  such.  The 
legislature  can  exert  its  police  power  to  that  end,  because 
it  is  a  profession  whose  practice  requires  the  highest  skill 
and  learning.  But  there  are  methods  of  treatment  which 
do  not  require  much  skill  and  learning,  if  any.  Patients 
have  a  right  to  use  such  methods  if  they  wish,  and  the 
attempt  to  require  an  examination  of  the  character  above 
recited'  for  the  application  of  such  treatment  is  not  warranted 
by  any  legitimate  exercise  of  the  police  power."  (State  v. 
Biggs,  133  N.  C.  729,  46  S.  E.  401,  64  L.  R.  A.  139.) 

'Tf  the  act  applies  to  appellant,  he  can  in  no  case  prac- 
tise his  system  in  this  State;  for,  however  well  qualified 
he  may  be,  he  cannot  be  examined  for  license  as  a  physi- 
cian, and  he  could  not,  without  abandoning  his  practice  as 
an  osteopath,  obtain  a  diploma  from  a  medical  college.     If 


48  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

the  Statute  applies  to  him,  it  also  applies  to  trained  nurses 
and  to  all  others  of  that  class,  who,  for  compensation,  ad- 
minister to  the  wants  of  the  sick.  The  result  of  such  a 
construction  of  the  statute  would  be  to  compel  every  one, 
whether  willing  or  unwilling,  to  employ  a  registered  physi- 
cian to  care  for  him  when  he  is  sick,  or  to  trust  himself 
entirely  to  gratuitous  services,  however  much  he  might 
prefer  skilful  nursing  to  medical  treatment.  It  is  doubtful 
if  the  legislature  has  the  right,  under  the  constitution,  thus 
to  restrict  the  free  choice  of  the  citizen  in  a  matter  concern- 
ing only  himself  and  not  the  people  at  large.  Taking  the 
statute  as  a  whole,  we  do  not  think  that  this  was  within 
the  legislative  intent,  or  that  the  act  was  designed  to  do 
more  than  regulate  the  practice  of  medicine  by  physicians 
and  surgeons.  .  .  .  Otherwise  this  section  would  be  made 
to  include  those  not  provided  for  in  the  preceding  section, 
and  the  effect  of  the  act  would  be,  not  to  protect  the  people 
of  this  State  from  the  unscientific  practice  of  medicine,  but 
to  deny  to  the  sick  all  ministrations  not  gratuitous,  unless 
by  registered  physicians.  Thus  construed,  the  act  would  be 
for  the  protection  rather  of  the  doctors  of  the  State  than  of 
the  people."  (Nelson  v.  State  Board  of  Health,  22  Ky. 
Law  Rep.  438,  57  S.  W.  501,  50  L.  R.  A.  383.) 

XIV. 
Christian  Scientists  are  not  opposing  the  efforts  of 
medical  doctors  to  raise  the  standards  of  their  own  pro- 
fession, nor  do  we  oppose  any  law  legitimately  calculated 
to  regulate  the  practice  of  medicine.  Moreover,  we  do  not 
wish  to  force  any  one  to  adopt  our  opinions  or  methods. 
\V!e  only  claim  the  right  to  do  Christian  work  and  to  be 
free  from  constraint  in  respect  to  our  choice  of.  religion 
and  therapeutics.  We  assert  that  the  spirit  which  gave  our 
system  of  government  birth  and  form  forbids  any  group  of 
citizens,  though  temporarily  clothed  with  the  power  of  mak- 
ing laws,  to  define  or  regulate  the  relations  between  God 
and  men,  set  limits  to  His  salvation,  or  prescribe  what 
methods  all  citizens  shall  employ  in  case  of  sickness.  We 
assert  that  every  American  citizen  has  the  right  to  choose 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION.  49 

the  method  or  system  which  he  will  employ  to  preserve  his 
health,  and  the  right  to  have  the  aid,  if  he  so  desires,  of 
a  practitioner  of  that  system.  Such  rights  pertain  directly 
to  the  preservation  of  life,  they  belong  most  vitally  to  the 
pursuit  of  happiness,  and,  when  the  citizen  chooses  to  rely 
on  the  practice  of  a  religion  to  prevent  or  cure  disease,  they 
are  inseparable  from  both  civil  and  religious  liberty.  When 
the  American  people  first  assumed  the  power  of  self-govern- 
ment, they  declared  such  rights  to  be  God-given  and  ui>- 
alienable. 

Another  quotation  from  Mr.  Justice  Brewer  will  close  this 
article.  In  his  American  Citizenship,  he  says  (pp.  14-23), 
"This  is  a  government  of  and  by  and  for  the  people.  It 
rests  upon  the  thought  that  to  each  individual  belong  the 
unalienable  rights  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness. It  affirms  that  the  nation  exists  not  for  the  benefit  of 
one  man,  or  set  of  men,  but  to  secure  to  each  and  all  the 
fullest  opportunity  for  personal  development.  It  stands 
over  against  the  governments  of  the  old  world  in  that  there 
the  thought  is  that  the  individual  lives  for  the  nation ;  here, 
that  the  nation  exists  i'or  the  individual.  .  .  . 

"Still,  again,  this  is  a  Christian  nation.  Not  that  the 
people  have  made  it  so  by  any  legal  enactment,  or  that  there 
exists  an  established  church,  but  Christian  in  the  sense  that 
the  dominant  thought  and  purpose  of  the  nation  accord 
with  the  great  principles  taught  by  the  Founder  O'f  Chris- 
tianity. Historically  it  has  developed  along  the  lines  of 
that  religion.  Its  first  settlements  were  in  its  name,  and 
while  every  one  is  welcome,  whether  a  believer  in  Chris- 
tianity or  in  any  other  religion,  or  in  no  religion,  yet  the 
principles  of  Christianity  are  the  foundations  of  our  social 
and  political  life.  It  needs  no  judicial  decision  to  deter- 
mine this  fact.  Indeed,  the  very  fact  that  it  has  no  estab- 
lished church  makes  one  of  its  highest  credentials  to  the 
title  of  a  Christian  nation.  The  great  thought  of  the  Mas- 
ter was  that  over  the  human  soul  there  was  no  earthly 
sovereign.  There  is  no  truth  which  shines .  more  clearly 
through  the  Gospels  and  the  epistles  than  that  of  the  in- 
dependence of  the  human  soul.     In  that  great  forum  where 


50  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

are  settled  the  destinies  of  time  and  eternity,  each  one  stands 
alone  with  his  conscience.  'Work  out  your  own  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling-/  That  nation  which  seeks  to 
enforce  or  support  a  religion  by  legislative  enactment  fails 
to  recog-nize  the  immortal  truth  contained  in  the  Master's 
words,  *My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world.'  The  very 
tolerance  which  some  over-sensitive  people  deprecate  is  one 
of  the  best  evidences  that  in  the  framing  of  our  Constitu- 
tion and  the  foundation  of  our  nation  there  was  recognized 
that  truth  which  underlies  Christianity,  to  wit,  that  love 
not  law  is  the  supreme  thing.  We  enforce  no  relig"ion; 
but  the  voice  of  the  nation  from  its  beginning  to  the  present 
hour  is  in  accord  with  the  religion  of  Christ.  Now,  what- 
ever else  may  be  said  of  Christianity,  one  thing,  is  undisputed 
and  indisputable, — ^that  Christian  nations  manifest  the  high- 
est forms  of  civilized  life,  and  that  among  professedly 
Christian  nations  those  in  which  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianity have  the  utmost  freedom  and  power  occupy  the  first 
place." 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE:  A  PRACTICAL 
RELIGION. 

JUDGE  SEPTIMUS  J.  HANNA. 

CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  was  discovered  in  1866  by 
Rev.  Mary  Baker  G.  Eddy,  the  author  of  its  text-book, 
"Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures." 

In  1879  there  was  org^anized  in  Boston,  by  Mrs.  Eddy 
and  some  of  her  students,  a  Christian  Science  church  called 
the  ''Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,"  the  purpose  of  which 
was  declared  to  be  "to  commemorate  the  word  and  works 
of  our  Master,  which  should  reinstate  primitive  Chris- 
tianity and  its  lost  element  of  healing."  In  1892  the 
church  was  reorganized  under  the  name  of  The  First 
Church  of  Christ,  Scientist,  of  Boston,  Mass.  This  or- 
ganization remains,  and  had  a  membership,  in  June,  1905, 
of  upwards  of  35,000.  It  now  has  nearly  one  thousand 
branch  churches  and  societies,  situated  in  the  United  States, 
Canada,  and  other  countries.  The  membership  of  the 
church  in  .Boston,  which  is  called  The  Mother  Church,  in- 
cludes a  majority  of  the  members  of  the  branch  churches. 

In  1 88 1  Mrs.  Eddy  established  in  Boston  the  Massachu- 
setts Metaphysical  College,  a  chartered  institution  in  con- 
nection with  which  about  four  thousand  students  received 
her  instruction.  As  an  outgrowth  of  this  College,  there 
was  organized  in  1900  a  Board  of  Education,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  carrying  on  its  work.  This  Board  has  sent  out 
several  hundred  students,  many  of  whom  are  engaged  in 
healing  and  teaching,  in  this  and  other  countries. 

In  1894  there  was  erected  in  Boston  a  handsome  church 
edifice,  costing  upwards  of  $200,000.  There  is  now  in 
course  of  construction  a  large  and  magnificent  church  edifice, 
an  extension  to  the  original  structure,  the  estimated  cost  of 
which  is  about  $2,000,000.  This  is  being  built  by  voluntary 
contributions  from  Christian  Scientists. 

The  Religio-Legal  Aspect  of  Christian  Science. 
'From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  Christian  Science 

51 


5*2  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

has  been  in  existence  upwards  of  thirty-five  years ;  that  it  is 
a  religion  claiming  a  Scriptural  basis;  that  it  has  many 
church  edifices;  that  it  has  a  large  number  of  organized 
churches  and  societies,  which  hold  regular  religious  services 
substantially  as  do  other  religious  denominations;  that 
it  has  many  thousands  of  adherents  in  this  and  other 
countries,  and  that  its  avowed  purpose  is  to  carry  out  the 
teachings  and  precepts  of  the  Bible  according  tO'  the  under- 
standing its  followers  have  thereof. 

What,  then,  is  the  legal  and  constitutional  status  of  the 
Christian  Science  Church  and  movement?  It  may  be 
answered.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Christian  Science 
Church  and  movement  come  strictly  within  every  provision 
of  constitutional  law  relating  to  religious  sects  and  de- 
nominations. The  most  marked  contrast  which  Christian 
Science  presents  to  other  Christian  faiths  is  this:  that 
it  adds  to  other  Christian  precepts  and  duties  that  of 
healing  sickness  through  spiritual  means  or,  in  other 
words,  through  prayer.  The  absurdity  and  injustice  of 
the  claim  that  it  is  not  a  religion  is  at  once  apparent ;  for,  if 
such  an  objection  were  valid,  then  the  whole  teaching  of  the 
Bible,  and  especially  that  of  Christ  Jesus,  would  be  in- 
valid, and  the  claims  of  the  Christian  religion  a  mockery. 
The  primary  purpose  of  this  Church,  as  originally  organized, 
was  to  reinstate  the  "lost  element  of  healing,"  and  the  at- 
tempt to  revive  this  part  of  the  work  of  early  Christianity  is 
surely  worthy  of  the  aid  and  encouragement  of  all  believers 
in  the  Christian  religion ;  hence  those  making  such  attempt 
are  entitled  to  all  the  legal  protection  that  can  surround  any 
religious  movement,  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  different  States.  This  position  would  be 
tenable  even  if  Christian  Scientists  were  not  yet  able  to 
justify  their  claims  to  Christianity  by  practical  healing  work. 
To  say  that  every  Christian  effort  commanded  by  the  Bible 
should  not  be  put  forth,  would  be  to  deny  to  professing 
Christians  the  right  of  endeavoring  to  perform  their  Chris- 
tian duty.  How  much  stronger  the  claim  to  legal  recogni- 
tion and  protection,  then,  if  such  Christian  effort  is 
accompanied  and  rewarded  with    works  of   healing   which 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  53 

are  truly  marvelous,  and  which  can  be  accounted  for  on  no 
other  ground  than  that  of  the  influence  of  a  power  above 
the  human. 

May  we  not,  then,  pertinently  inquire :  Should,  or  should 
not,  this  "lost  element  of  healing"  be  reinstated?  Is,  or  is 
not,  healing  through  spiritual  means,  or  through  the  effi- 
cacy of  prayer,  an  essential  part  of  the  gospel  of  Christ? 
These  questions  must  be  answered  from  Scripture,  from 
reason,  and  from  human  experience. 

Scripture  Teaching. 

The  Old  Testament  abounds  in  promises  of  health  and 
happiness.  As  a  matter  of  human  experience,  there  is  not 
much  happiness  apart  from  good  health,  and  hence  the 
earnest  seeking  for  and  constant  effort,  at  whatever  cost,  to 
obtain  it.  Invariable  and  imperative  conditions  of  health 
and  happiness  are  prescribed  in  the  Bible,  and  these 
conditions  must  be  complied  with  as  carefully  as  must  the 
laws  of  agriculture  or  of  mechanics.  The  necessity  of 
strict  obedience  to  "the  statutes  and  commandments"  is 
iterated  and  reiterated  in  the  Bible.  Had  these  statutes 
and  commandments  been  fully  complied  with,  who  can  say 
that  mankind  would  not  have  reaped  blessings  now  un- 
dreamed of? 

Few  Bible  scholars  or  believers  will  deny  that  the  injunc- 
tions and  admonitions  of  the  Bible  have  reference  to  all 
peoples  and  all  ages.  This  is  distinctly  the  Christian  Sci- 
ence view.  We  understand  that  the  history  of  the  children 
of  Israel  foreshadows  the  history  of  the  whole  human  race, 
and  that  the  exodus  of  Israel  from  Egyptian  bondage  pre- 
figures the  final  deliverance  of  mankind  from  the  slavery  of 
sin  and  disease  in  all  their  forms, — the  ultimate  emergence 
of  mortals  from  bondage  into  "the  glorious  liberty  of  the 
children  of  God."  The  Promised  Land  stands  in  allegory, 
as  well  as  in  historical  fact,  for  this  final  deliverance,  this 
ultimate  freedom. 

Bible  statements  such  as  the  following  from*  the  103d 
Psalm  are  numerous: — 

**Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits : 


54  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities ;  who  healeth  all  thy  disr 
eases." 

Also  from  Jeremiah,  33 : — 

''Call  unto  me,  and  I  will  answer  thee,  and  show  thee 
great  and  mighty  things,  which  thou  knowest  not.  .  .  .  Be- 
hold, I  will  bring  it  health  and  cure,  and  I  will  cure  them, 
and  will  reveal  unto  them  the  abundance  of  peace  and  truth." 

-    Jesus"  Teaching. 

The  Old  Testament  teachings  furnish  abundant  founda- 
tion for  the  New  Testament  doctrine  of  healing  through 
divine  law,  and  especially  for  the  teaching  and  works  of 
Jesus. 

Jesus  sent  forth  his  twelve  disciples  to  preach  and  to  heal 
the  sick.  He  gave  them  a  commandment,  called  by  some 
Bible  commentators  his  Great  Commission.  In  Matthew, 
10,  it  is  thus  recorded: — 

"Go  not  into  the  way  of  the  Gentiles,  and  into  any  city  of 
the  Samaritans  enter  ye  not :  but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep 
of  the  house  of  Israel. 

"And  as  ye  go,  preach,  saying.  The  kingdom  of  heaven 
is  at  hand. 

"Heal  the  sick,  cleanse  the  lepers,  raise  the  dead,  cast  out 
devils :  freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give. 

"Provide  neither  gold,  nor  silver,  nor  brass  in  your  purses, 

"Nor  scrip  for  your  journey,  neither  two  coats,  neither 
shoes,  nor  yet  staves :  for  the  workman  is  worthy  of  his 
meat." 

This  commandment  is  a  unit,  and  yet  it  has  been  treated 
theologically  as  if  it  were  two  commandments.  We  have 
been  taught  to  believe  that  the  part  relating  to  preaching 
was  to  be  perpetuated,  so  that  even  the  heathen  of  all  nations 
should  be  converted  to  Christianity,  but  that  the  direction 
as  to  the  healing  of  sickness,  and  the  other  works  mentioned, 
was  intended  only  for  the  time  in  which  it  was  given  and 
those  to  whom  Jesus  immediately  addressed  himself.  There 
is  no  warrant  in  Jesus'  words  for  such  a  contention,  nor  for 
any  attempt  to  set  aside  a  part  of  the  commandment. 

We  should  thus  maintain  if  we  rested  the  question  alone 


^^Of  THE  A 

^K  UNIVERSITY   I 

A  PRACTICAL  RELIGICM.^^^        .  c  /55 

^t^'"AL  f"'''  ^'^^^    '" 

upon  the  words  I  have  quoted;  but  we  are^fi©t-Gemj>elled  to 
do  this.  After  his  resurrection  and  just  before  his  ascen- 
sion, Jesus  gave  to  his  disciples  a  final  commandment.  This 
constitutes  the  last  two  verses  of  the  Book  of  Matthew : — 

"Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  baptizing  them 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

''Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you :  and,  lo,  I  am  wath  you  alway,  even  unto 
the  end  of  the  world." 

This  language  is  broad  and  unqualified.  It  comprehends 
all  the  commandments  previously  given  to  his  disciples,  and 
it  is  a  plain  and  unmistakable  direction.  We  therefore  de- 
clare, on  the  most  explicit  biblical  authority,  that  the  heal- 
ing of  sickness  is  an  essential  and  indispensable  part  of 
Christ's  gospel.  The  same  divine  power  that  healed  in 
Jesus'  time  heals  to-day,  so  far  as  it  is  understood  and  prac- 
tised. There  is  but  one  Truth,  and  that  Truth  is  eternal, 
unchangeable. 

We  might  well  rest  our  contention  here,  but  we  are  im- 
pelled to  call  attention  to  an  utterance  of  Jesus  yet  more 
remarkable  than  any  already  referred  to.  In  John,  14,  we 
read : — 

"Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that  believeth  on  me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also;  and  greater  works 
than  these  shall  he  do;  because  I  go  unto  my  Father." 

Marvelous  words !  When  we  think  of  the  mighty  works 
he  performed  we  are  almost  overwhelmed  by  the  deep 
solemnity  of  such  an  utterance.  Jesus  destroyed  all  forms 
of  sin ;  healed  all  manner  of  sickness ;  walked  the  waves ; 
raised  the  dead ;  and  did  many  other  wonderful  works.  Yet 
in  words  startling  in  their  plainness  he  declares  that  those 
who  believe  on  him  shall  do,  not  only  the  great  works  he 
did,  but  greater.  Is  it  possible  that  the  believers  in  the  great 
Nazarene  are  destined  to  do  the  mighty  works  he  did,  and 
even  mightier?  What  shall  be  our  answer?  If  he  meant 
what  he  said,  and  was  a  true  prophet,  our  answer  must  be 
Yes. 

Then  what  follows?     We  must  either  seek  to  learn  the 


56  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

divine  law  through  which  these  works  may  be  done,  or  we 
must  declare  ourselves  unbelievers  in  Christ  Jesus  and  his 
teaching ;  therefore,  unbelievers  in  God  and  the  Bible.  Shall 
we  accept  Jesus'  words  for  what  they  are,  or  shall  we  not? 
By  whom  shall  these  great  works  be  done  if  not  by  Chris- 
tians? Jesus  distinctly  said  they  should  be  done  by  those 
who  believe  on  him, — those  who  understand  and  obey  his 
teaching. 

Practice  of  the  Early  Church. 

It  is  matter  of  well  authenticated  history  that  the  healing 
of  sickness  through  the  direct  agency  of  the  divine  Power 
was  practised  by  the  early  Christians  down  to  the  close  of 
the  third  century;  and  that  as  late  as  the  close  of  the  second 
century,  the  dead  were  raised.     Says  Gibbon, — 

"The  Christian  Church,  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  and 
their  first  disciples,  has  claimed  an  uninterrupted  succession 
of  miraculous  powers,  the  power  ...  of  healing  the  sick, 
and  of  raising  the  dead.  ...  In  the  days  of  Irenseus,  about 
the  end  of  the  second  century,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead 
was  very  far  from  being  considered  an  uncommon  event." 

The  writings  of  the  Ancient  Apologists  referred  to  by 
Gibbon  go  minutely  into  the  history  of  the  healing  of  sick- 
ness and  the  raising  of  the  dead  by  the  early  Christians, 
through  the  efficacy  of  prayer  and  fasting. 

Says  Prof.  J.  R.  Mosley,  "H  waling  through  direct  spiritual 
means  has  been  believed  in,  and  to  a  certain  extent  prac- 
tised, in  ever}^  age  of  the  Christian  Church.  .  .  .  Some 
healing  followed  the  works  of  Luther,  and  Wesley  was  a 
firm  believer  in  the  power  and  willingness  of  God  to  heal 
the  sick." 

Says  Southey,  in  his  ''Life  of  Wesley,"  ''He  related  cures 
wrought  by  his  faith  and  his  prayers,  which  he  considered 
and  represented  as  positively  miraculous.  By  thinking 
strongly  on  a  text  of  Scripture,  ...  he  shook  off  instan- 
taneously, he  sa3^s,  a  fever  which  had  hung  upon  him  for 
some  days." 

If,  as  it  thus  appears,  the  modem  Church  has  omitted  a 
vital  and  essential  part  of  its  duty,  can  it  too  soon  or  too 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  57 

earnestly  set  about  retrieving  itself  and  restoring  this  long 
neglected  part  of  the  Christian  religion  ?  The  only  possible 
excuse  for  not  doing  so  is  the  inability  to  do  so.  We 
respectfully  submit  that  if  this  ever  was  a  sufficient  excuse 
it  has  long  since  ceased  to  be  so. 

If  Jesus  were  to  reappear  upon  the  earth  just  as  he  beh 
fore  appeared,  teaching  the  same  doctrine,  doing  the  same 
works,  rebuking  false  systems  and  false  teachers  as  he  then 
did,  teaching  the  possibility,  nay,  the  necessity  of  over- 
coming and  destroying  sin,  sickness,  and  death,  as  an  in- 
evitable part  of  Christian  effort  and  duty,  what,  we  ask, 
would  be  his  reception  by  those  who  condemn,  persecute, 
and  who  would  ostracize  such  as  are  making  a  sincere 
effort  to  carry  out  his  teachings  and  practice?  A  partial 
Christianity  is  no  Christianity.  To  leave  undone  a  vital 
part  of  the  work  which  Jesus  said  should  be  done,  is  not 
discharging  the  whole  duty  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  To 
asseverate  the  impossibility  of  doing  those  things  which  the 
Founder  of  the  Christian  religion  solemnly  declared  should 
be  done  by  those  who  believe  on  him,  is  a  poor  substitute 
for  the  works  themselves, — a  pitiable  begging  of  the  ques- 
tion. 

The  Cause  of  Sickness. 

Even  a  casual  inquiry  into  the  cause  of  much  of  the  sick- 
ness of  the  world  abundantly  vindicates  all  that  Jesus  taught 
and  commanded  with  reference  to  healing  it,  and  all  that 
Christian  Scientists  claim  in  behalf  of  their  efforts  to 
follow  his  teaching.  All  know  that  the  death  of  thousands, 
annually,  is  caused,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  the  excessive 
use  of  intoxicating  liquors.  Could  this  single  cause  of 
death  and  distress  be  removed,  the  percentage  of  sickness, 
and  of  all  the  consequences  thereof,  would  be  so  greatly 
reduced  that  the  unthinking  world  would  be  amazed  thereat. 

Another  prolific  cause  of  human  misery  and  death  is 
immorality  in  its  varied  forms.  The  removal  of  this  cause 
would  also  amazingly  reduce  the  percentage  of  sickness, 
with  all  its  direful  consequences.  If  we  could  further  re- 
move the  sickness,  with  its  results,  which  arises  from  mental 


SS  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

worry  and  dq)ression,  we  would  so  lessen  the  sum-total  of 
human  wretchedness  as  to  be  startled  at  the  change.  It 
is  now  being-  recognized,  more  and  more,  that  such  mental 
conditions  as  anger,  hatred,  malice,  revenge,  jealousy,  etc., 
are  the  cause  of  various  kinds  of  sickness  called  physical, 
but  wholly  mental  in  origin.  If  we  could  also  eliminate 
the  disease  and  death  resulting  from  human  carelessness, 
slothfulness,  uncleanliness,  and  various  kinds  of  folly,  often 
amounting  to  wantonness,  there  would  be  so  little  cause 
for  the  deplorable  conditions  now  existing,  that  we  might 
feel  the  kingdom  of  heaven  had  indeed  come  upon  earth. 

The  Cure  of  Sickness. 

In  the  presence  of  these  unquestioned  causes  of  sickness, 
what  shall  be  said  of  its  cure?  In  answering  this  question 
we  recognize  the  fact  that  the  worthy  members  of  the 
medical  profession  are  doing  the  best  they  can,  from  their 
standpoint,  to  alleviate  human  suffering  and  stay  the  rav- 
ages of  disease.  We  respect  them  for  every  noble  effort 
they  make  and  for  whatever  good  they  have  done  and  are 
doing;  but  making  full  allowance  for  all  they  do,  and  claim 
to  be  able  to  do,  we  are  yet  confronted  with  the  vital  question 
as  to  how  far  sin,  and  wrong  or  unhappy  mental  conditions, 
y  \  can  be  met  and  mastered  by  drugs  and  medicines,  or  by 
any  material  means  whatever.  In  other  words,  can  those 
myriad  forms  of  sickness  which  are  due,  directly  or  in- 
directly, to  sinful  causes  or  abnormal  mental  conditions,  be 
really  and  effectually  cured  by  inanimate  material  remedies  ? 
Can  the  surgeon's  knife,  however  skilfully  handled,  cut  out 
sinful  thoughts  and  erroneous  mental  conditions?  There 
is  no  true  and  radical  means  of  healing  the  diseases  to 
which  we  have  referred,  other  than  moral  and  spiritual. 
If  it  is  known  that  sin  and  foolish  living  is  causing  sickness, 
the  sensible  thing  to  do  is  tO'  find  some  method  or  influence 
which  will  stop  the  sin  and  the  foolishness. 

Suppose  a  stream  of  water  which  supplies  a  city  should 
become  so  polluted  that  many  inhabitants  were  getting  sick 
and  dying  from  its  use.  What  would  be  the  effective 
thing  to  do?     Would  it  not  be  to  remove  from  the  water 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  59 

the  poisonous  elements,  and  thus  purify  it?  The  Christian 
Science  position  is  that  this  same  sensible  rule  should  be 
applied  to  the  removal  of  the  causes  of  sickness,  instead 
of  tinkering  with  effects.  It  is  irrational  and  unjust  for 
men  to  go  on  carelessly  and  thoughtlessly  disregarding  the 
conditions  which  produce  sickness  and  death,  and  then  when 
these  calamities  come  to  charge  them  to  the  will  and  purpose 
of  an  inscrutable  Providence. 

Prayer. 

That  prayer  has  been  efficacious  in  healing  sickness  is 
shown  by  the  Bible  and  by  authentic  history.  The  apostles 
and  early  Christians  proved  the  verity  of  Jesus'  teach- 
ings, and,  as  has  been  shown,  all  who  believe  on  him 
and  his  teachings  are  enjoined  to  do  the  works  that  he 
did,  and  greater.  Why  are  they  not  being  done  by  all 
who  profess  to  follow  him  now?  Let  Christendom  solemnly 
answer  this  question.     The  apostle  James   distinctly  said, 

*Ts  any  among  you    afflicted?    let    him    pray And 

the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick,  and  the  Lord 
shall  raise  him  up ;  and  if  he  have  committed  sins  they  shall 
be  forgiven  him"  (James,  5  :  14,  15).  Was  James  talk- 
ing idly?  Have  his  words  become  obsolete?  Has  the  law 
of  prayer  been  repealed? 

Those  who  scoff  at  prayer  are  contemning  the  very 
groundwork  of  the  Christian  religion.  Those  who  deny 
that  God  will  or  can  heal  the  sick  to-day  are  denying  that 
He  is  almighty.  No  believer  in  God,  in  Christ,  and  in  the 
Bible,  can  consistently  dispute  the  power  and  efficacy  of* 
prayer.  Is  it  not  time  for  the  Christian  world  to  awaken 
to  a  deeper  and  more  sacred  sense  of  the  obligations  and 
duties  of  the  Christian  religion?  Is  it  not  time  this  "lost 
element"  of  Christianity  was  reinstated  ?  If  so,  then  surely 
all  good  citizens  should  lend  their  aid  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  desirable  end. 

If  the  former  beneficent  results  of  prayer  are  not  now 
realized,  is  it  not  fairly  presumable  that  there  is  something 
wrong  in  our  prayer, — that  there  is  lack  of  faith  or  under- 
Standing?    Had  the  laws  of  agriculture  been  as  little  be- 


60  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

lieved  in  and  heeded  as  have  the  teachings  of  Jesus  in 
respect  to  heahng,  it  is  hkely  that  agriculture  would  long  ago 
have  become  a  ''lost  art."  Especially  had  the  professors 
of  agriculture,  for  a  thousand  years,  taught  and  declared 
the  impossibility  of  raising  corn,  or  wheat,  or  potatoes, 
is  it  not  fair  to  conclude  that  there  would  have  been  little 
of  these  raised  of  late  years?  Because  a  law,  through 
ignorance  or  indifference,  lapses  into  disuse,  it  does  not 
follow,  however,  that  it  has  become  null  and  void. 

Divine  law  should  not  be  ruled  out  of  consideration  be- 
cause it  is  not  understood.  Healing  sickness  through  prayer 
should  not  be  scorned  because  the  divine  law  whereby  it  is 
effected  passes  ordinary  comprehension.  If  we  refuse 
things  because  w^e  do  not  understand  the  laws  creating  and 
governing  them,  how  many  things  would  we  accept? 

Do  men  refrain  from  enjoying  the  beauty  of  the  rose 
because  they  do  not  know  how  the  rose  was  created,  nor  the 
chemistry  of  its  color  and  perfume  ?  Do  men  refuse  to  take 
the  physician's  medicine  because  they  do  not  know  what  it 
is,  or  how  it  is  supposed  to  do  its  work?  They  take  all 
these  things  on  faith.  Are  they  to  have  faith  in  every- 
thing but  God  and  trust  in  every  supposed  power  but 
His? 

There  is  an  inherent,  and  therefore  constitutional  right 
to  practise  one's  religion.  All  who  believe  in  the  Christian 
religion  agree  that  prayer  is  an  essential  part  of  Christian 
practice.  If  a  Christian,  in  the  course  of  practising  his 
religion,  can  by  his  understanding  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer 
•help  those  in  need,  it  would  be  unchristian  in  him  to  refuse 
such  help,  and  he  certainly  has  the  right  to  give  it.  It 
will  not  be  denied  that  there  is  an  equal  right  to  receive 
needed  help  from  others.  The  obstruction  of  these  rights 
would  deny  to  a  minister  of  the  gospel  the  opportunity  of 
praying  to  God  for  the  recovery  of  a  sick  parishioner,  and 
deprive  the  sufferer  of  the  aid  he  might  expect  from  his 
pastor's  ministrations. 

It  is  customary  for  pastors  to  pray  for  the  recovery  of  the 
sick  in  their  congregations.  In  published  books  of  prayer 
such  supplications  usually  appear.     Should  there  be  certain 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  6l 

pastors  who  were  able  to  offer  "the  prayer  of  faith"  which 
the  Apostle  James  says  "shall  heal  the  sick,"  with  the  result 
that  sick  and  ailing'  members  of  their  churches  recovered 
health  and  strength,  and  with  the  further  result  that  other 
sick  and  suffering  persons  called  for  their  services  and  were 
also  healed,  would  any  enactment  be  fair  which  would 
forbid  these  sufferers  from  receiving-  help?  Would  it  be 
lawful  to  say  to  the  clergyman,  You  have  a  right  to  engage 
in  prayer  so  long  as  the  sick  are  not  healed,  but  if  your 
prayer  results  in  such  a  mental,  moral,  and  physical  change 
in  those  you  pray  for  that  they  become  well,  you  must  re- 
frain? Can  any  legislature  with  justice  enact  laws  to 
prevent  citizens  from  availing  themselves  of  the  benefit  of 
efficacious  prayer? 

The  right  of  the  Christian  Scientist  to  heal  others  through 
his  understanding  of  the  ef^cacy  of  prayer  is  surely  as  well 
established  as  the  right  of  any  other  Christian  to  doi  so, 
and  the  right  of  the  people  of  this  country  who  desire  to 
have  the  benefit  of  healing  from  those  who  have  been  in- 
structed in  spiritual  things,  is  undoubted  under  the  pro- 
visions and  guarantees  of  our  constitutional  law. 

Christian  Science  is  sending  over  the  world  a  literature  as 
pure  as  thought  and  language  can  make  it,  and  its  sole 
purpose  is  to  arouse  people  to  deeper  thinking  along  the 
lines  of  a  redemptive  and  practical  Christianity.  W'e  ask 
all  who  would  be  informed  of  this  remarkable  religious 
movement  to  read  its  literature.  From  it,  rather  than 
from  idle  rumor  and  biased  and  unintelligent  criticism, 
should  information  be  gathered  and  judgment  made. 

We  confidently  submit  that  the  healing  of  sickness  by 
spiritual  means  is  inseparable  from  Christianity,  and  is  im- 
peratively demanded  by  a  full  obedience  to  Christ's  teachings 
and  precepts.  A  careful  perusal  of  the  accompanying  evir 
dence  of  the  healing  of  nearly  every  known  kind  of  sickness 
through  Christian  Science,  will  convince  any  unbiased  mind 
that  it  does  embrace  within  its  works  the  "lost  element"  of 
healing, — lost  to  the  world  in  general,  but  not  to  those  who 
have  come  into  at  least  a  partial  understanding  of  the  divine 
law  whereby  healing  through  super-material  means  may 
be  done. 


62  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION- 

SPIRITUAL  VS.  Medical  Healing. 

Inasmuch  as  Christian  Scientists  rely  wholly  upon  prayer, 
.or  upon  spiritual  power,  rather  than  upon  any  material 
or  physical  methods  or  appliances,  the  sug"g"estion  w^hich 
has  sometimes  been  made,  that  they  should  study  and  pass 
examination  in  certain  courses  of  medical  study,  is  absurd. 
They  would  lessen  their  power  to  heal  if  they  did  so,  for 
a  clear  metaphysical  or  spiritual  perception  is  necessary, 
and  this  would  be  decreased  by  courses  of  study  in  opposing 
methods.  The  basic  premise  of  Christian  Science  is  that 
Spirit — God — is  the  healing-  power.  The  theory  of  drug 
physicians  is  that  matter  has  healing  efficacy.  The  one  is 
the  direct  antipode  of  the  other.  In  view  of  the  fact  that 
Christian  Science  can  prove  that  it  has  healed  many  forms 
of  disease  pronounced  incurable  by  matter  physicians,  there 
is  greater  reason  for  requiring  matter  physicians  to  study 
Christian  Science,  than  there  is  for  seeking  to  compel 
Christian  Scientists  to  study  materia  medica.  The  same 
measure  of  justice  should  be  meted  in  each  case. 

Many  physicians  of  late  years  claim  that  they  are  prac- 
tising mind-healing,  or  what  they  suppose  to  be  Christian 
Science.  This  is  a  significant  admission  that  they  deem 
the  drug  system  inadequate.  If  this  system  were  what 
for  ages  it  has  been  recommended  as  being,  there  would  be 
no  reason  for  adopting  any  other.  In  other  words,  if  drugs 
or  physical  remedies  were  all-sufficient,  the  resort  to  mental 
means  would  be  superfluous.  The  trend  from  drugs  to 
so-called  suggestive  therapeutics  is  of  itself  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  practice  of  medicine  is  not  a  science.  It 
is,  at  best,  empirical.  The  practitioners  of  fifty  years  ago 
were  as  confident  and  as  honest  as  are  those  of  to-day,  yet 
no  one  pretends  that  medicine  fifty  years  ago  was  a  science. 
It  has  undergone  radical  changes  in  almost  every  decade. 
Each  departure  is  believed  to  be  in  advance  of  the  old. 
The  present  decade  claims  much  that  the  last  did  not  claim ; 
yet,  if  there  is  real  gain,  why  the  boast  that  physicians  are 
adopting  mental  methods  in  substitution  for  physical  ? 

It  is  apparent  from  the  foregoing  presentation  of  Chris- 
tian Science  that  our  medical  friends  are  mistaken  in  their 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  63 

claim  that  they  are  using  Christian  Scieiice  in  their  prac- 
tice. Christian  Scientists  rely  upon  the  efficacy  of  prayer, 
the  power  of  the  divine  Mind.  Suggestive  therapeutics 
is  but  the  declaration  of  the  human  mind  against  disease. 
It  has  no  relation  to  prayer,  nor  even  to  faith  in  God's 
healing  power.  It  has  none  of  the  elements  of  spiritual 
healing.  It  does  not  profess  to  be  based  upon  the  Bible, 
or  to  bear  any  semblance  of  a  religion.  The  whole 
teaching  of  Christian  Science  is  that  the  human  mind 
has  no  true  healing  power.  No  power  short  of  the 
Divine  can  finally  and  effectually  heal  sickness.  In  other 
words,  only  so  far  as  God's  power  is  understood  and  applied, 
is  real  healing  accomplished.  That  Christian  Scientists 
have  reached  an  understanding  of  divine  law  which  en- 
ables them  to  heal  diseases  which  have  baffled  the  skill  of 
the  best  matter  physicians  the  world  affords,  is  abundantly 
shown  by  the  accompanying  testimonies. 

Christian  Science  teaches  that  the  attempt  to  heal  through 
the  mortal  or  merely  human  mind  is  hypnotism,  and  that 
its  exercise  is  a  dangerous  mental  power.  Hence  Christian 
Scientists  are  carefully  instructed  to  distinguish  sharply 
between  the  prayer  of  sincere  and  holy  desire  and  the  human 
will-power  which  is  mere  mental  suggestion  or  hypnotism. 
Only  by  the  understanding  of  spiritual  law  can  the  bane- 
ful effects  of  hypnotism  be  overcome  and  destroyed.  Here- 
in is  the  one  grand  distinction  between  Christian  and 
un-Christian  healing.  God  is  the  only  healer,  and  true  heal- 
ing can  be  accomplished  only  as  the  divine  law  is  under- 
stood and  applied. 

The  situation  may  be  thus  summarized :  Air  sickness 
is  the  sequence  of  mortal  error.  If  there  never  had  been 
any  departure  from  spiritual  law,  there  would  have  been 
no  sickness.  This  proposition  is  of  course  disputed. 
Many  maintain  that  while  certain  kinds  of  sickness  are  the 
result  of  sin  or  error,  there  are  other  kinds  which  are  not. 
If  we  were  to  enumerate  the  causes  of  sickness  which,  by 
common  consent,  are  the  result  of  sin,  I  think  our  list  would 
be  so  nearly  exhausted  that  whatever  might  be  left  would 
hardly  be  worthy  of  mention.     Take  the  sin  of  lust.     What 


64  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND    LEGISLATION. 

physician  or  other  thinking  person  would  deny  the  almost 
infinity  of  sicknesses,  diseases,  and  discords  resulting^  there- 
from ?  So  also  with  the  sin  of  intemperance ;  all  admit  the 
great  variety  of  sicknesses  and  diseases  produced  thereby. 
Further,  who  will  deny  that  the  sin  of  social  dissipation  in 
its  varied  forms  is  a  prolific  source  of  disease  and  suffer- 
ing? Finally,  take  the  use  of  opiates,  narcotics,  and  stimu- 
lants of  various  kinds,  the  use  of  tobacco,  excessive  eating, 
and  the  almost  endless  forms  of  dissipation  existing  even  in 
Christendom, — to  say  nothing  of  heathendom, — and  who  is 
there  to  deny  the  train  of  discords  and  diseases  following  in 
the  wake  of  these  sins  ? 

These,  however,  are  the  grosser  forms  of  sin  or  error. 
How  about  the  more  refined  or  subtle  forms?  The  world  is 
only  beginning  to  awaken  to  the  fact  that  there  are  a  variety 
of  mental  conditions  which  are  productive  of  sickness  and 
disease.  Malice,  hatred,  envy,  selfishness,  unworthy  emula- 
tion or  rivalry,  mental  strains  and  excesses  arising  from 
unwholesome  and  competitive  business  conditions,  and  other 
mental  causes,  almost  ad  iniinitiim,,  constitute  a  very  hotbed 
for  the  breeding  of  disease.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  that 
sin  has  its  starting-point  in  the  human  or  mortal  mind? 
and  that  the  mental  condition  precedes  every  physical  act  ? 

Now,  then,  should  there  be  a  method  known  whereby  the 
mental  sense  of  the  wrong  thinker  can  be  changed,  so'  that 
the  drunkard,  for  example,  can  be  weaned  from  his  desire 
for  intoxicants,  will  it  not  be  conceded  that  this  method  is 
of  more  value  to  the  race  than  so-called  cures  which  attempt 
to  heal  drunkenness  with  drugs?  If,  moreover,  this  method 
enables  the  envious  man  to  think  kindly,  the  dissipated  to 
recover  their  manhood,  if  it  restores  mental  poise  to  those 
broken  down  under  the  strain  of  business  worries,  and  all 
these  cases  are  healed,  who  shall  say  that  it  is  not  more 
worthy  of  acceptance  than  any  type  of  drug  treatment. 

It  has  been  clearly  proved,  in  many  cases,  that  the  efificacy 
of  the  drug  rests  upon  the  faith  with  which  it  is  adminis- 
tered by  the  particular  attending  physician,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  on  the  other  by  the  faith  of  the  patient  and  the  general 
belief  that  has  been  built  up  in  behalf  of  the  remedies  con- 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  65 

stituting  the  pharmacopoeia;  and  Christian  Scientists  have 
definitely  learned  that  drugs  and  medicines  have  in  fact  no 
other  curative  efficiency  than  these  prevaihng  faiths  and 
beHefs.  Hence,  whatever  of  heahng  virtue  drugs  seem  to 
have  is  wholly  mental,  the  healing  virtue  residing  not  in 
the  material  thing  or  drug,  but  in  the  individual  and  racial 
mentality. 

This  fact  is  becoming  more  and  more  generally  recognized 
by  physicians  and  others.  Governor  Thomas  of  Colorado, 
in  a  veto  message  wherein  he  refused  to  sign  a  medical  bill 
passed  by  the  Colorado  legislature,  made  the  following 
declaration :  ''Confidence  of  the  patient  in  the  healer  does 
more  to  restore  him  than  all  the  drugs  that  ever  medicined 
man."     ' 

Giving  to  materia  medica  all  credit  to  which  it  is  possibly 
entitled,  we  still  submit  the  metaphysical  proposition, 
whether  drugs  and  medicines  have  a  power  or  virtue  that 
destroys  sin,  which  is  the  root-cause  of  sickness  in  so  many 
cases.  When  one  is  no  longer  guilty  of  lustful  thoughts 
and  acts,  the  evil  consequences  thereof  will  in  due  time  cease. 
So  of  intemperance  and  wrongful  excesses  and  indulgences 
of  every  sort.  So  of  the  subtler  forms  of  sin, — ^malice, 
hatred,  envy,  etc.  Only  as  these  mental  conditions  are 
destroyed  will  their  consequences  cease.  The  method  of 
their  destruction,  then,  is  a  theological  as  well  as  a 
therapeutic  question.  One  is  not  apt  to  forsake  sin  until 
he  becomes  thoroughly  awakened  to  the  necessity  thereof, 
and  the  folly  of  further  indulging  it.  How  is  he  thus 
awakened?  By  an  understanding  of  the  spiritual  law 
wherein  sin  has  no  place.  Many  thousands  have  been 
so  awakened  through  the  ministrations  of  Christian  Sci- 
entists. The  cases  are  numerous  and  easily  proved  in 
which  the  appetite  for  intoxicating  liquors  has  been  abso- 
lutely destroyed  and  the  mania  for  morphine  and  other 
opiates  utterly  uprooted.  The  destruction  of  these  more 
common  and  apparent  sins,  through  the  understanding  and 
application  of  spiritual  law,  on  the  part  of  Christian  Sci- 
entists, prophesies  the  destruction  of  all  other  sins.  But 
it  has  been  the  uniform    experience  of    Christian    Science 


66  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE   AND   LEGISITATION. 

practitioners,  that  the  grosser  forms  of  sin,  as  above  enu- 
merated, yield  more  readily  than  the  subtle  mental  con- 
ditions, envy,  malice,  etc.,  which  are  not  so  well  understood 
to  be  sinful. 

All  agree  that  Jesus  was  both  theologian  and  physician. 
He  manifestly  understood  that  the  origin  of  disease  was 
mental.  In  his  time  these  mental  conditions,  now  understood 
to  be  evil  thoughts  or  prq^ensities,  were  designated  as  devils 
or  evil  spirits.  His  mission  was  to  exorcise  these  devils 
(or  evils)  ;  in  other  words,  to  awaken  humanity  to  the  fact 
that  by  right  living  they  could  be  destroyed  or  removed 
from,  human  consciousness.  He  healed  the  sick  and  the 
sinful,  not  by  virtue  of  drugs  or  material  remedies,  but 
through  his  understanding  of  spiritual  law, — that  law  which 
always  has  existed  and  always  will  exist,  for  it  is  divine  and 
eternal.  That  law,  lost  for  centuries,  has  again  l>een 
brought  to  light,  and  is  being  put  into  practical  application 
through  Christian  Science. 

The  text-book  of  Christian  Science  contains  a  complete 
presentation  or  explanation  of  this  spiritual  law,  and  an  in- 
telligent perusal  of  it  so  opens  the  teachings  of  the  Bible 
to  human  understanding  as  to  arrest  the  attention  and  pro- 
duce conviction  in  the  mind  of  the  earnest,  impartial  reader ; 
and  when  there  is  added  to  this  conviction  the  ability  to 
prove  the  spiritual  import  of  the  Scripture,  conviction  ripens 
into  knowledge.  This  is  why  Christian  Scientists  are  so 
confident  in  their  position.  Reformers  are  apt  to  be 
confident  and  zealous  even  to  a  degree  that  is  often  and 
grievously  misunderstood.  Conservatism  never  establishes 
reforms.  Luther,  Calvin,  and  Zwingli  were  considered 
bigoted  zealots  and  religious  fanatics.  So  with  John  Huss, 
Bunyan,  and  indeed  all  great  religious  reformers.  They 
were  deemed  by  their  contemporaries  worthy  only  of  the 
stake  and  the  dungeon,  but  in  after  years  the  value  of  their 
services  was  understood. 

As  TO  Compensation  for  Service. 
It  is  sometimes  held  that    Christian    Scientists    should 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  (ij 

not  charge  for  their  ministrations.  Why  are  they  not  as 
well  entitled  to  fair  compensation  as  others?  To'  be  most 
successful  in  their  work  they  must  give  all  their  time  to  it. 
Should  they  meanwhile  starve?  I  do  not  suppose  any  sen- 
sible person  would  endorse  the  idea  that  Christian  Scien- 
cntists,  more  than  any  other  class  of  people,  should  become 
an  army  of  paupers  and  mendicants.  To»  hold  that  they 
are  not  entitled  to  remuneration  for  their  services  is  equiva- 
lent to  saying  that  a  Christian  method  of  healing  the  sick 
should  not  be  compensated,  and  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
Christian.  This  strange  conclusion  involves  the  infer- 
ence that  medical  practice  is  unchristian  and  therefore 
may  justly  claim  a  return.  Are  our  non-Scientist  friends 
willing  to  rest  the  case  here?  We  contend  that,  by  every 
fair  intendment.  Christian  Scientists  are  as  well  deserving 
of  fair  remuneration  as  are  physicians  and  clergymen.  We 
are  not  ready  to  admit  that  only  ungodly  pursuits  are 
worthy  of  reasonable  compensation. 

There  is,  furthermore,  no  less  authorization  in  Jesus' 
teaching  for  receiving  compensation  than  there  is  for  doing 
the  works.  As  part  of  his  instruction  to  the  disciples,  he 
said,  "The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire."  The  attempt 
to  legislate  against  the  right  of  Christian  Scientists  to 
compensation,  while  admitting  their  right  to  practise  withr 
out  it,  is  not  only  devoid  of  any  element  of  justice  or  fairness, 
but  is  the  height  of  inconsistency.  The  animus  back  of 
such  legislation  is  too'  apparent  to  require  notice.  The 
effect  would  be  to  legalize  Christian  Science  practice  while 
denying  a  monetary  return  for  such  legalized  services.  It  is 
perfectly  clear  that  no  legislation  can  prevent  people  from 
thinking  or  from  praying;  and  if  good  thoughts  and  right 
prayer  will  help  and  heal  their  fellow-beings,  no  legislation 
can  prevent  that.  As  well  might  the  legislature  undertake 
to  stop  the  operation  of  the  infinite  Mind,  or  to  rule  al- 
mighty God  out  of  His  universe.  God  is  the  same, — yes- 
terday, and  to-day,  and  forever.  His  only  begotten  Son 
has  never  ceased  to  say,  "And,  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 


68  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE   AND   LEGISLATION. 

The   Reasonableness   of   the   Christian    Scientist's 

Position. 

If  there  is  a  better  method  of  heaHng  sickness  than  that 
embraced  by  prevaiHng  systems,  people  are  entitled  to  its  ben- 
efits, and  the  effort  should  be  to  encourage  and  promulgate 
rather  than  to  suppress  it.  Human  life  should  be  prolonged 
if  it  can  be.  Sickness  should  be  checked  and  destroyed  if  it 
is  possible.  Suffering  should  be  abated  in  every  legitimate 
way.  Sorrow,  distress,  and  woe  should  be  annihilated  if 
there  is  any  power  to  do  it.  Better  health  and  better  morals 
should  be  assiduously  cultivated.  Mankind  should  rise  to 
a  higher  plane  of  living.  Nearly  two  thousand  years  ago 
St.  Paul  enjoined  the  Philippians  to  have  in  themselves 
the  same  Mind  "that  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus."  If  such 
attainment  was  possible  then,  it  is  so  now.  If  men  to-day 
possessed  in  full  measure  the  same  Mind  that  was  in  Christ 
Jesus,  they  could  and  would  do  the  same  works  he  did, 
according  to  his  own  declaration. 

If,  for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  we  were  to  admit  the 
right  of  the  legislature  toi  interfere  in  medical  matters  at 
all,  there  is  only  one  fair  ground  upon  which  the  medical 
profession  could  ask  protective  legislation;  namely,  a  su- 
periority and  proficiency  so  well  established  that  nO'  other 
system  would  be  needed.  In  that  case  they  should  be  able 
to  heal  all  diseases,  prolong  human  life  to  its  natural  span, 
relieve  all  suffering  and  all  the  consequences  of  sorrow, 
grief,  woe,  and  unhappiness  flowing  from  sickness  in  its 
various  forms.  Did  they  or  could  they  do  this,  they  would 
need  no  protection,  and  would  ask  for  none.  It  is  often 
said  by  persons  who  do  not  believe  in  Christian  Science, 
that  every  time  physicians  ask  for  legislative  aid  and 
protection  they  are  advertising  their  own  weakness  and 
inefficiency.  It  is  not  strange  that  laymen  should  begin 
to  grow  suspicious  of  the  medical  profession,  in  view  of  the 
repeated  efforts  in  this  direction. 

Our  common  law  is  based  upon  the  Mosaic  Decalogue. 
Our  courts  are  constituted  with  reference  to  the  administra- 
tion of  justice  tempered  with  mercy.  Our  constitutions 
and  our  statutory  laws  are  framed  with  reference  to  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  all  the  people.     Only  such  conduct 


A  PRACTICAL  RELIGION.  69 

as  is  inimical  to  the  public  welfare  is  inhibited.  Upon  what 
fair  or  just  basis,  therefore,  can  Christian  Scientists  be 
discriminated  against?  Wherein  can  they  be  said  to  be  a 
menace  to  the  public  welfare?  No  one  having-  an  intelli- 
gent conception  of  their  tenets  can  tor  a  moment  place  them 
in  the  category  of  criminals  or  of  persons  dangerous  to  the 
community,  without  doing  gross  violence  to  every  precept 
of  the  Christian  religion. 


TESTIMONIES  OF  HEALING. 

Twelve  years  a^o  I  was  in  a  hopeless  state  of  ill  health. 
For  twelve  years  I  was  afflicted  with  pulmonary  disease, 
and  during  the  above  stated  period,  tried  every  remedy 
known  to  materia  medica,  with  no  permanent  relief.  I  was 
twice  carried  to  the  operating-table,  my  uncle.  Dr.  Edman 
Fitzgerald,  of  Macon,  Ga.,  being  chief  surgeon  at  these 
operations.  After  the  second  operation,  Dr.  Fitzgerald  told 
my  mother  that  the  operation  had  disclosed  the  fact  that  my 
left  lung  was  entirely  gone,  and  the  right  lung  was  so  badly 
affected  by  tuberculosis  that  it  was  impossible  for  me  to 
recover. 

I  had  pneumonia  four  times  after  the  last  operation,  and 
was  never  known  to  be  free  from  a  cough  or  cold.  I  was 
attended  by  six  prominent  physicians  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,  each  one  concurring  with  the  other  in  diagnosis 
of  my  case  as  being  a  hopeless  one.  I  was  also  informed 
that  my  kidneys  were  diseased.  I  immediately  wrote  to 
a  medical  board  of  New  York,  and  sent  a  sample  of  my 
urine.  Their  verdict  was,  *'"V\%oever  passed  this  urine  has 
a  serious  case  of  Bright's  disease."  They  prescribed  for 
my  case,  and  I  took  their  remedies,  strictly  in  accordance 
with  directions,  without  gaining  relief.  I  became  dis- 
couraged, and  was  planning  to  take  my  life. 

In  this  sad  and  hopeless  condition,  I  found  a  copy  of 
''Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures"  by  Mrs. 
Eddy,  in  the  Georgia  Historical  Library  of  Savannah, 
Ga.  I  engaged  this  book  for  two  weeks,  read  it  through, 
and  was  satisfied  that  its  contents  could  not  harm  me, 
for  it  was  based  upon  the  inspired  word  of  the  Holy 
Bible.  I  caHed  on  the  Christian  Science  practitioner  here, 
bought  a  copy  of  Science  and  Health,  which  cost  me  three 
dollars,  and  was  healed  by  reading  this  book,  in  one  year. 

My  family  and  I  have  spent  over  three  thousand  dollars 
for  medicine  and  medical  attention.  I  was  healed  by  Chris- 
tian Science  at  a  cost  of  three  dollars.  When  I  began 
studying  Christian  Science,  I  weighed  one  hundred  and  five 

70 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  71 

pounds;  I  now  weigh  one  hundred  and  eighty  pounds. 
I  have  not  taken  any  medicine,  internally  or  externally, 
for  the  past  twelve  years,  and  I  am  now  a  well  and  happy 
man.  I  owe  my  very  existence  to-day  to  the  healing 
efficacy  of  Christian  Science,  and  I  stand  ready  to  qualify 
to  the  above  statement. 

Ephraim  D.  Mann,  Savannah,  Ga. 

In  the  year  1900,  when  living  in  Seattle,  Washington,  I 
was  taken  ill  with  what  the  doctors  afterwards  pronounced 
to  be  cancer  of  the  stomach.  In  three  years  I  was  under 
the  care  of  five  physicians,  trying  allopathy,  homoeopathy, 
and  osteopathy,  spending  three  weeks  in  a  hospital  at 
Seattle,  and  subsequently  in  Los  Angeles  for  the  same  time. 
Finally,  in  1903,  finding  myself  in  a  state  of  nervous  col- 
lapse, and  the  attacks  of  stomach  trouble  becoming  more 
severe  and  frequent,  I  was  put  on  a  very  limited  diet  and 
used  the  stomach-tube  twice  a  day  for  six  months.  The 
color  of  my  skin  was  a  very  convincing  symptom  of  the 
disease.  Thinking  a  trip  on  the  ocean  would  benefit  me, 
I  went  to  a  northern  city,  and  after  three  weeks  the  physi- 
cian attending  me  there  said,  'T  do  not  wish  to  alarm  you, 
but  I  think  it  wise  for  you  to  return  home  at  once,"  advising 
me  as  I  left  his  office  not  to  submit  to  any  operation.  After 
my  return  I  lived  on  raw  eggs  and  baby  foods,  gradually 
becoming  worse.  The  attacks  then  being  more  prolonged 
and  violent,  all  nourishment  was  discontinued  and  only 
sufficient  water  to  moisten  my  lips  and  enemas  of  peptonized 
milk  were  given  me.  Later  the  physician  told  my  husband 
he  could  do  no  more  for  me ;  and  my  sister,  being  a  graduate 
nurse,  continued  the  hypodermic  injections  of  morphine  and 
strychnia. 

In  this  extremity,  late  in  December,  1903,  I  turned  to 
Christian  Science,  and  received  immediate  help  from  the 
first,  eating  whatever  I  desired;  virtually  being  healed  in 
three  weeks,  though  there  was  a  slight  return  of  the  old 
trouble  the  following  month,  which  was  quickly  met.  I  was 
also  cured  of  insomnia,  kidney  trouble,  partial  paralysis  of 
the  bowels,  and  I  discontinued    the   use  of    glasses.     For 


72  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

more  than  a  year  I  have  been  perfectly  well,  without  the 
slightest  symptom  of  the  old  trouble,  and  I  gained  fifty-five 
pounds  in  eight  months.  During  my  illness,  about  two 
thousand  dollars  was  expended  in  doctors'  fees,  drugs,  and 
hospital  bills. 

My  gratitude  to  God  for  what  has  been  overcome  for 
me  through  Christian  Science  cannot  be  expressed  in  words, 
especially  for  the  wonderful  spiritual  uplifting  that  has 
followed  the  study,  and  my  prayer  is  that  my  daily  life  may 
be  a  living  expression  of  that  thanksgiving. 

Mr.y.  Louise  K.  Millard,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

From  childhood  I  had  heart  trouble  and  consumption.  I 
could  not  walk  fast,  or  go  up  hill  without  suffering  from  a 
difficulty  in  breathing,  and  I  had  a  cough  which  the  least 
change  in  the  weather  would  increase.  Twelve  years  ago 
1  was  taken  ill  with  pneumonia,  which  left  my  lungs  weaker 
than  ever.  Two  years  later  I  had  another  attack^  and 
for  three  weeks  two  trained  nurses  and  a  doctor  v^ere  at 
work  over  me  all  the  time.  Finally  I  rebelled,  but  the 
verdict  was  that  I  w^ould  never  be  well.  The  heart  trouble 
was  much  worse,  so  that  my  physician  told  my  husband  never 
to  leave  me  alone  for  long  at  a  time.  Later,  I  had  another 
attack  of  pneumonia,  and  my  physician  advised  me  to  go 
to  a  hospital,  where  I  could  have  every  care.  I  remained 
there  two  wrecks,  but  my  cough  was  dreadful,  and  I  returned 
home  worse  than  when  I  entered.  Finally  I  gave  up  all 
thought  of  ever  being  any  better.  I  had  become  very 
weak  and  could  not  speak  aloud.  For  three  months  I  had 
not  partaken  of  any  solid  food.  The  valvular  heart  trouble 
was  so  bad  that  I  could  not  lift  my  hand  to  my  head,  and  if 
I  lay  on  my  left  side  I  would  go  into  a  spasm. 

This  was  my  condition,  and  it  was  considered  hopeless 
by  my  friends.  In  March,  1898,  I  was  alone  in  my  room, 
wishing  for  health,  and  that  I  could  stop  coughing,  if  only 
for  a  little  while,  when  I  looked  out  of  the  window  and 
saw  Mrs.  Edd}^  drive  past.  The  thought  came,  Why  not 
try  Christian  Science?  I  went  at  once  to  a  practitioner 
and  received  a  treatment.     The  night  before,  I    had    only 


TESTIMONIES   OF   HEALING.  73 

been  able  to  lie  down  two  hours,  but  that  night  I  slept  all 
night  and  never  coughed  once.  Before  retiring,  when  my 
husband  went  to  get  my  medicine  and  nourishment,  which 
I  had  formerly  taken  every  two  hours  through  the  night,  I 
told  him  I  should  not  want  them.  He  said,  "But  you  cannot 
leave  off  all  at  once."  I  told  him  that  God  would  take  care 
of  me,  and  He  did. 

I  had  been  under  medical  treatment  in  Concord  for  more 
than  twelve  years,  w^hen  my  physicians  told  me  that  all  that 
I  could  do  was  to  make  myself  comfortable,  as  I  have  de- 
scribed. My  condition  was  most  uncomfortable.  I  was 
under  treatment  in  Christian  Science  two  weeks  and  was 
healed,  and  have  stayed  healed.  On  the  day  that  I  aban- 
doned materia  medica  I  weighed  eighty-two  pounds.  My 
weight  now  is  one  hundred  and  forty-five  pounds. 

For  medical  attendance,  hospital  service,  nurses,  and 
drugs  I  spent  one  thousand  dollars.  For  my  permanent 
healing  in  Christian  Science  I  spent  ten  dollars. 

Mrs.  Annie  G.  H asking,  Concord,  N.  H. 

On  October  12,  1887,  while  descending  a  flight  of  stairs, 
I  slipped  and  fell  a  distance  of  six  steps,  fracturing  three 
ribs  and  receiving  an  injury  in  the  right  hip  joint.  The 
family  physician  was  called  at  once.  The  hip  was  so 
severely  injured  that  it  seemed  numb,  and  there  was  no 
sensation  in  it  for  three  days,  after  which  the  pain  was  so 
intense  that  the  hurt  in  the  side  seemed  of  no  consequence. 
At  this  time  the  contraction  of  the  muscles  in  the  right 
limb  began,  and  continued  to  increase  until  the  foot  was 
drawn  back  under  the  body  as  far  as  it  was  possible  for 
it  to  go.  To  counteract  this  drawing  of  the  muscles,  and 
with  the  hope  of  relieving  the  inflamed  membrane  of  the 
hip  joint,  the  physician  suspended  a  weight  over  the  foot 
of  the  bed,  fastening  it  to  my  foot;  first  a  flat-iron,  but  as 
this  was  not  suf^cient  the  weight  was  increased  until  a 
fifty-pound  bag  of  shot  hung  from  my  foot.  This  caused 
such  intense  suffering  that  it  had  to  be  abandoned.  The 
physician  next  resorted  to  a  large  fly-plaster  on  the  hip, 
hoping  to  draw  the  inflammation  to  the  surface.     This  was 


74  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

very  successful  in  blistering,  as  the  flesh  seemed  cooked 
nearly  to  the  bone,  but  it  gave  no  relief  either  to  the  in- 
flamed membrane  or  tO'  the  contracting  muscles. 

Weeks  had  passed  without  any  relief  whatever  in  the 
suffering,  when  the  doctor  resorted  to  the  use  of  morphine, 
which  he  injected  in  the  flesh, — at  first  one  or  two  injections 
per  day,  but  this  was  increased  to  six  or  eight, — using 
sixty  grains  of  morphine  per  week.  Nothing  that  the  doc- 
tor had  done  had  in  any  way  relieved  the  drawing  of  the 
muscles,  except  the  temporary  relief  which  the  morphine 
gave. 

I  wish  to  explain  that  the  limb  drew  back  at  the  knee 
until  the  lower  part  of  the  limb  pressed'  against  the  thigh 
so  tightly  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  put  the  finger 
between  them.  The  foot  extended  as  far  up  as  it  could 
possibly  reach;  this  position  it  constantly  occupied,  except 
when  I  was  under  the  influence  of  morphine.  Immediately 
after  an  injection  was  administered  the  limb  could  be 
straightened,  but  it  required  all  the  strength  of  my  father, 
who  is  a  strong  man,  to  do  this.  At  times  when  the  attempt 
was  made  to  bring  the  foot  down,  the  muscles  throughout 
the  entire  body  were  attacked  with  such  spasmodic  action 
that  it  often  required  three  or  four  persons  to  hold  me  on 
the  bed.  My  eyelids  would  shut,  the  hands  close  so  tightly 
that  the  nails  would  penetrate  the  flesh,  and  my  jaws  would 
become  set.  At  one  time  my  head  was  drawn  over  on  my 
right  shoulder  and  my  jaws  remained  set  for  seventeen  suc- 
cessive days.  At  such  times  the  morphine  was  not  sufficient 
and  chloroform  was  administered  in  such  quantities  as  to 
render  me  wholly  unconscious  before  the  muscles  would 
relax  and  the  jaws  could  be  forced  open.  During  those 
times  I  could  take  no  nourishment  except  liquids,  which  I 
could  get  through  my  teeth. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  difiiculty  experienced  in  taking  my 
foot  down,  but  it  was  still  more  difficult  to  keep  it  down. 
The  doctor  tied  it  to  the  bedstead  with  bands  of  strong 
cloth,  and  this  would  keep  it  down  until  the  morphine  began 
to  lose  its  effect  and  the  pain  increased;  then  the  muscles 
would  contract,  the  bands  give  way,  and  the  foot  go  up. 


TESTIMONIES  OF  HEALING.  7S 

The  strength  of  the  bands  was  increased,  until  finally  the 
heaviest  canton  flannel  was  procured.  The  bands  were 
made  of  four  thicknesses,  and  to  make  them  still  stronger, 
they  were  stitched,  but  this  also  failed,  as  one  jerk  of  the 
foot  severed  them. 

Splints  were  next  tried, — a  large  one  on  each  side  of  my 
limb, — the  outside  one,  extending  up  under  the  arm,  being 
securely  bound  to  my  body;  but  as  I  could  not  endure  the 
suffering,  they  had  to  be  taken  off.  All  hope  of  keeping 
the  foot  down  without  the  use  of  morphine  was  then  given 
up,  and  from  that  time  on  I  was  kept  under  its  influence, 
keeping  the  foot  tied  to  the  bedstead,  and  often  the  jerking 
would  begin  and  the  foot  go  up  before  the  injection  could 
be  given.  During  the  second  year  of  my  sickness  an  iron 
brace  was  secured,  and  by  strapping  one  end  to  my  ankle 
and  the  other  above  my  knee  I  could  sit  up  for  a  short  time, 
just  after  an  injection,  and  could  walk  a  little  with  crutches. 
For  over  three  years  my  leg  was  paralyzed  from  the  knee 
down. 

I  had  not  been  able  to  be  lifted  from  my  bed  for  more 
than  a  year  and  was  reduced  almost  to  a  skeleton  when  we 
first  heard  of  Christian  Science.  The  morphine  was  grad- 
ually losing  its  effect,  the  physicians  told  my  father  that  to 
increase  the  quantity  above  what  I  was  then  using  meant 
certain  death,  and  to  stop  the  use  of  it  would  be  fatal. 
Nine  physicians  were  called  in,  and  many  other  eminent 
doctors  consulted,  during  my  sickness,  but  none  of  them 
understood  the  case  or  had  ever  heard  of  one  similar  to  it. 
I  was  under  the  care  of  physicians  from  the  time  of  the 
accident  until  in  February,  1891.  They  had  exhausted  all 
known  remedies,  and  for  some  time  had  used  nothing  except 
the  morphine,  and,  when  necessary,  the  chloroform. 

A  Christian  Science  practitioner  arrived  at  our  home 
February  14,  1891,  and  no  morphine,  chloroform,  or  medi- 
cine of  any  kind  was  used  after  she  came.  The  healing  was 
gradual,  the  contraction  of  the  muscles  being  somewhat  slow 
in  yielding,  and  some  two  months  elapsed  before  the 
limb  would  remain  straight.  About  the  first  of  May  we 
went  on  a  pleasure  trip,  going   a   distance  of   sixty  miles 


y6  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE   AND  LEGISLATION. 

in  a  carriage,  and  I  stood  the  trip  as  well  as  any  in  the  party. 
By  the  first  of  June  I  was  healed ;  making-  a  period  of  about 
three  and  one  half  months  of  Christian  Science  treatment, 
at  a  cost  of  ninety-five  dollars. 

Since  that  time  I  have  found  Christian  Science  the 
sovereign  panacea  for  all  ailments  and  have  used  no  medi- 
cine. I  can  truly  say  that  to  Christian  Science,  as  taught  in 
''Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures"  by  Mrs. 
Eddy,  I  owe  my  life  and  all  the  good  I  possess.  My  home 
has  always  been  in  Fairbury,  Illinois. 

Elisabeth  FisheVj  Fairbury^  III. 

I  had  always  been  subject  to  stomach  trouble,  and  finally 
was  in  such  a  condition  that  I  could  not  travel.  I  put  my- 
self under  a  doctor's  care,  and  after  a  month's  treatment, 
with  no  improvement,  I  was  informed  that  I  had  fistula,  and 
that  the  only  relief  would  be  in  an  operation.  I  then  de- 
cided to  try  Christian  Science,  and  after  one  treatment 
ate  a  hearty  meal.  In  ten  days  the  trouble  had  gonC;  with 
no  recurrence.  I  do  not  believe  in  arguing  about  a  "sure 
thing,"  but  I  know  what  Christian  Science  has  done  for 
me. — James  H.  Sherman,  Topeka,  Kan. 

In  August,  1 90 1,  the  glands  in  the  pit  of  my  right  arm 
became  swollen,  tubercles  formed,  and  my  physician  sent 
me  to  an  eminent  surgeon  here,  who  diagnosed  my  case 
as  "scrofula,  based  upon  hereditary  consumption."  The 
removal  of  the  swellings  afforded  but  temporary  relief,  as 
they  returned  in  a  few  months  not  only  in  the  right  arm, 
but  in  the  left  also,  while  the  wound  never  fully  healed,  and 
discharged  intermittently  for  a  year  and  a  half,  until  I  was 
healed  by  Christian  Science.  In  May,  1902,  this  trouble 
developed  into  a  severe  illness,  and  I  planned  to  go  to 
California  to  visit  a  friend  and  try  to  regain  my  health,  but 
my  physician  did  not  think  I  could  stand  the  journey,  nor 
that  one  in  my  condition  should  go  so  far  from  home,  and  a 
trip  north  was  taken  instead.  While  my  general  health 
was  improved  when  I  returned,  the  swellings  were  soon 
as  bad  as  ever,  and  extremely  painful,  and  the  discharge 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  '^*J 

from  the  sore,  which  had  spread  to  an  area  the  size  of  my 
hand,  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  I  became  pallid, 
weak,  and  was  very  thin.  The  tonics  and  local  applications 
which  at  first  had  alleviated,  finally  lost  their  effect,  and  were 
discontinued.  I  felt  that  there  were  no  better  physicians 
than  those  attending  me,  and  that  all  that  medicine  could 
do  for  me  was  being  done,  but  I  was  discouraged  that  it 
could  do  no  more.  All  kinds  of  possibilities  were  held  out 
to  me, — the  loss  of  the  use  of  my  arms,  if  not  the  arms 
themselves,  as  already  things  slipped  from  my  fingers,  and 
I  was  unable  to  dress  myself  without  assistance.  The  pos- 
sibility of  being  dependent,  and  an  expense  where  I  should 
be  a  help,  was  worse  than  the  fear  of  death. 

I  went  to  a  Christian  Science  practitioner  here  and  began 
taking  treatment  in  March,  1903.  After  the  second  treat- 
ment I  sat  down  to  the  piano  and  played  music  full  of  runs 
that  I  had  not  been  able  to  attempt  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and 
raised  a  heavy  window,  lifting  my  arms  to  a  level  with  the 
shoulders.  After  the  fourth  treatment  all  swelling  had  dis- 
appeared, the  wound  had  healed,  there  was  but  a  rough  red 
scar  over  the  place  wheje  the  sore  had  been,  and  the  treat- 
ment was  discontinued.  By  the  end  of  the  week  there  was 
not  a  mark,  not  a  line,  to  show  that  anything  had  ever  been 
wrong  with  either  arm.  There  has  been  no  return  of  the 
trouble,  and  my  arms  are  strong.  My  expense  for  Chris.- 
tian  Science  treatment  was  four  dollars. 

I  am  at  the  present  time  in  perfect  health,  and  never  lose 
a  day  from  my  work.     A  fuller  account  of  my  experience 
appeared  in  The  Christian  Science  Journal  of  June,  1905. 
Jenny  Chandler  Jones,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Christian  Science  came  to  me  when  I  was  greatly  in  need 
of  help.  I  had  been  obliged  to  give  up  my  position  nearly 
two  years  before^  as  I  had  severe  bowel  trouble.  I  then 
placed  myself  in  the  hands  of  a  physician,  whose  instruc- 
tions I  followed  faithfully,  but  received  no  benefit.  I  was 
under  the  care  of  six  of  Detroit's  best  physicians, — the  last 
doctor  who  attended  me  being  a  lecturer  in  the  University 
of  Michigan, 


78  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

He  attended  me  for  several  months  during  the  lattei  part 
of  my  illness,  and  his  treatment  of  my  case  was  at  first  with 
medicine  and  dieting-,  with  no  water  to  drink, — but  I  had 
not  been  drinking  water  all  summer.  When  this  treatment 
failed  to  benefit  me,  he  started  to  poultice  my  body;  I  re- 
member very  distinctly  the  blisters  which  were  across  my 
bowels  and  stomach.  At  this  time  I  was  confined  to  my 
bed  entirely.  After  a  few  weeks  of  such  treatment,  and 
no  relief,  I  was  told  to  lie  flat  upon  my  back,  without  even 
a  pillow  and  without  moving  to  either  side.  This  treat- 
m,ent  was  tried  a  whole  month,  but  it  also  failed  to  heal. 
The  cold  water  cure  was  tried;  a  rubber  tube  was  wound 
round  my  body,  and  ice  water  was  passed  through  it.  This 
also  failed  to  help  me,  and  finally  the  doctor  resorted  to  a 
more  severe  diet ;  but  it  did  no  good.  I  had  become  much 
emaciated,  and  every  day  I  was  massaged  with  mutton 
tallow,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  do  any  good  and  I  was  grad- 
ually wasting  away.  The  doctor  stated  my  case  to  a  council 
of  physicians,  but  they  could  not  suggest  anything  different. 
I  wish  to  mention  that  I  am  deeply  grateful  for  the  untiring 
attention  given  me  by  this  doctor. 

In  February,  1887,  a  consultation  of  physicians  was  held, 
but  no  encouragement  was  given.  At  this  time  it  was 
thought  by  many  that  I  would  pass  on  at  any  moment,  as 
the  doctors  had  said  they  could  do  no  more.  When  they 
left  my  home  their  last  instructions  were  to  give  me  a  little 
brandy  water.  I  was  able  to  take  only  about  half  a  teaspoon- 
ful  of  this  at  a  time,  as  all  my  internal  organs  seemed  to  be 
so  sensitive  to  food  that  as  soon  as  anything  entered  the 
stomach  it  would  cause  distress  and  action  of  the  bowels, 
with  hemorrhage.  I  was  unable  to  eat  anything  at  all,  and 
had  not  taken  a  drink  of  water  for  a  year. 

When  it  was  thought  that  I  had  but  a  short  time  to  live, 
my  parents  decided  to  try  Christian  Science  treatment.  A 
practitioner  was  called,  and  I  was  told  that  God  did  not 
make  me  sick,  that  God  is  good.  I  was  also  told  to  hold  in 
thought  that  God  was  my  Life.  In  about  a  week  I  was  eat- 
ing heartily  of  all  sorts  of  food.  After  another  week  I  was 
able  to  sit  up,  and  a  few  days  later  I  got  out  of  bed  and  sat 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  79 

up  for  a  number  of  hours  each  day.  I  longed  for  a  good 
drink  of  water,  and  I  was  told  that  it  could  not  hurt  me.  I 
took  a  drink,  without  any  bad  results.  The  Christian  Sci- 
ence treatment  was  continued,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  March 
I  went  out.  I  soon  gained  forty  pounds,  and  finally  went 
back  to  my  position.     I  was  treated  five  or  six  weeks. 

I  caimot  begin  to  express  the  depth  of  my  gratitude  for 
the  work  that  was  done  for  me  through  Christian  Science. 
It  seemed  as  if  T  had  been  born  again,  and  I  realized  the 
truth  of  Solomon's  words,  "For  it  was  neither  herb  nor 
mollifying  plaster  that  restored  them  to  health ;  but  thy  word, 

0  Lord,  which  healeth  all  things." 

The  doctor  who  had  attended  me  called  on  me  after  I  was 
restored  to  health,  and  expressed  both  joy  and  surprise  at 
m}^  recovery.  He  took  down  the  statements  of  my  parents, 
as  well  as  my  own,  and  reported  the  case  at  the  annual 
meeting  of  the  Michigan  State  Medical  Association  in  1889, 
his  statement  afterwards  appearing  in  the  official  report  of 
this  association. 

The  study  of  Christian  Science  helped  me  a  great  deal,  as 

1  found  that  I  needed  to  know  more  about  this  Christ.-truth 
which  heals  the  sick.  During  my  eighteen  years'  experi- 
ence in  Christian  Science,  I  have  not  tasted  a  drop  of  medi- 
cine. Surely  this  is  a  proof  to  me  that  Christian  Science 
does  heal.  It  has  revealed  to  me  the  truth  made  known 
in  the  teachings  of  Christ  Jesus,  and  in  Science  and  Health 
by  Mrs.  Eddy,  which  not  only  heals  the  sick  but  refonns  the 
sinner.  I  do  not  claim  to  have  gone  through  these  eighteen 
years  without  some  ailments,  but  I  can  truthfully  say  that 
whenever  there  was  any  trouble  I  resorted  to  Christian  Sci- 
ence treatment  and  the  sickness  was  always  overcome  by  it. 
I  am  enjoying  perfect  health  and  know  that  it  is  due  to 
Christian  Science.  I  return  thanks  to  God  for  His  wonder- 
ful mercy,  and  I  do  indeed  feel  grateful  to  Mrs.  Eddy  for 
this  healing  truth  which  came  to  me  when  all  else  failed. 

Louis  B.  Matzka,  Detroit,  Mich. 

[We  have  been  furnished  with  a  copy  of  the  report  to 
which  reference  is  made  in  the  foregoing  testimony.     This 


80  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

report  substantiates  Mr.  Matzka's  testimony,  and  practically 
admits  that  Christian  Science  healed  him  after  materia 
medica  had  failed. — Editor.] 

I  was  an  invalid  for  sixteen  years.  I  was  under  the 
care  of  noted  specialists  from  four  of  the  largest  cities  in 
the  United  States, — all  told,  twenty-one  doctors  and  surgeons 
ministered  to  me, — but  to  little  avail.  I  constantly  grew 
worse,  till  finally  all  hope  failed  and  I  reached  the  point 
where  I  cared  to  live  no  longer,  although  I  had  three  chil> 
dren  and  a  devoted  husband.  At  this  time  Christian  Sci- 
ence came  to  my  rescue,  and  for  the  past  twenty  years  I 
have  been  a  well  and  active  woman. 

I  was  never  a  strong  child.  I  married  young,  and 
after  the  birth  of  my  first  child  did  not  know  a  well  day 
for  sixteen  years.  I  had  been  troubled  with  constipation 
from  my  birth,  at  times  suffering  intensely.  One  specialist, 
under  whose  care  I  was  placed  for  about  a  year,  gave  me 
such  powerful  drugs  to  produce  action,  that  the  coating  of 
the  intestines  passed,  but  nothing  else.  When  all  material 
means  were  laid  aside.  Christian  Science  healed  me  of  this 
difficulty  in  my  first  treatment,  and  for  twenty  years  there 
has  been  perfect  action. 

I  also  suffered  from  neck-ache  and  headache,  which  were 
variously  accounted  for  by  materia  medica.  Some  doctors 
thought  my  eyes  were  the  cause  of  my  suffering,  so  they 
were  cut  three  separate  times,  to  "adjust  the  focus,"  and 
very  complicated  glasses  were  worn  for  two  years.  With- 
out them  it  was  most  difficult  to  distinguish' the  objects  about 
me.  For  a  little  while  I  thought  I  was  relieved  by  wearing 
them,  but  it  was  only  temporary,  till  Science  brought  me 
permanent  relief  from  this  bondage.  The  experiment  was 
also  tried  of  burning  my  spine  three  times  a  week  for  an 
entire  winter,  with  no  result  but  added  suffering  and 
expense.  At  last,  after  undergoing  three  very  serious  and 
unsuccessful  operations  for  internal  difficulties  (although  I 
believe  the  last  one  was  called  a  success),  I  was  forced  to 
wear  an  artificial  support,  the  surgeon  saying  I  should  be 
obliged  to  wear  it  always,  as  the  ligaments  failed  to  do  their 


TESTIMONIES   OF   HEALING.  8 1 

work,  being  like  a  piece  of  worn-out  elastic.  Added  to 
all  this,  and  with  other  ills  too  numerous  to  mention,  I 
suffered  from  extreme  nervous  exhaustion,  which  unfitted 
me  for  any  duties  whatsoever. 

This  was  my  condition  in  the  summer  of  1885,  when  1 
took  my  first  treatment  in  Christian  Science,  and  my  perma- 
nent healing-  began.  One  after  another  my  ailments  left  me, 
and  at  the  end  of  three  months  I  was  perfectly  healed,  and 
have  remained  so. 

I  was  born  in  Providence  R.  I.,  and  have  lived  here  all 
my  life,  and  am  glad  to  testify  to  the  permanent  healing 
which  Christian  Science  has  afforded  me. 

Elisa  S.  Chapin,  Providence^  R.  I. 

For  twelve  years  and  over,  I  had  suffered  from  throat 
trouble,  called  by  some  specialists  paralysis  of  the  vocal 
cords,  by  others  catarrh.  A  throat  specialist  in  London, 
England  (one  of  the  late  Queen  Victoria's  physicians), 
charged  me  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  for  an  examina- 
tion, and  later  five  hundred  dollars  more  for  an  operation 
which  gave  me  only  temporary  relief,  telling  me  that  it  was 
all  he  could  do  for  me.  Another  noted  specialist  in  Mel- 
bourne, Australia,  confirmed  this  opinion  with  the  statement 
that  my  throat  would  never  be  well.  However,  as  my  busi- 
ness took  me  to  different  parts  of  the  world,  and  my  living 
depended  on  my  voice  (which  at  times  left  me  entirely),  I 
was  compelled  to  continue  my  efforts  to  find  a  cure.  Com'- 
ing  to  this  country,  I  went  to  a  specialist  in  San  Francisco, 
who  operated  on  me  with  the  same  result  as  before, — relief 
for  a  short  time.  Here  I  was  forced  to  give  up  the  pro- 
fession for  which  I  had  studied  many  years.  I  had  been 
treated  by  seven  specialists,  all  prominent  in  the  medical 
world,  had  been  operated  upon  four  times,  at  a  cost,  for 
drugs  and  doctors,  of  about  six  thousand  dollars  altogether. 

While  in  Salt  Lake  City  for  a  short  time,  I  was  persuaded 
by  my  wife  to  try  Christian  Science,  and  I  did  so,  though 
with  no  expectation  of  getting  any  benefit  therefrom.  I  had 
treatment  one  evening,  and  can  any  one  picture  my  surprise 
and  delight  when,  on  rising  the  following  morning,  I  found 
myself  a  well  man, — my  nose  and  throat  free  from  all  dis- 


82  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

ease, — and  that  with  only  one  treatment  from  a  Christian 
Science  practitioner,  the  cost  being-  comparatively  nothing. 
This  was  two  years  ago,  and  I  have  had  no  trouble  with  my 
throat  since  that  time. 

The  gratitude  I  feel  for  the  help  received  from  Christian 
Science,  words  cannot  express ;  it  has  been  good  for  me  and 
mine,  both  physically  and  spiritually. 

A.  W.  Watson,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

It  is  with  much  gratitude  that  I  testify  to  the  great  bless- 
ings received  through  Christian  Science.  Soon  after  I  grad- 
uated from  the  Versailles  (Ohio)  High  School,  I  became 
helpless  with  what  the  physicians  called  spinal  disease.  This 
was  in  the  spring  of  1891.  My  parents  employed  the  best 
medical  aid  that  could  be  secured  there.  I  was  under  the 
care  of  three  physicians,  one  of  whom  was  my  physician  most 
of  the  time  during  my  illness  of  seven  years.  All  three 
physicians  were  kind,  and  I  am  sure  did  all  in  their  power 
to  help  me.  One  of  them  stated  that  there  was  only  one  case 
similar  to  mine  on  record.  Sometimes  the  suiYering  was  so 
great  that  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  call  as  often  as 
twice  a  day,  but  no  material  remedy  or  application  relieved 
my  suffering.  Through  contraction  of  the  spine  my  head 
was  drawn  out  of  a  natural  position,  the  chin  pressing  hard 
against  the  chest.  I  became  such  a  sufferer  that  I  could  not 
endure  the  jar  when  a  member  of  the  family  walked  across 
the  room ;  then  holes  were  made  in  the  floor  and  the  bed  fas- 
tened on  posts  from  the  ground.  I  could  be  moved  in  bed 
only  one  inch  at  a  time,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  time  I 
had  to  be  padded  from  head  to  foot,  on  account  of  extreme 
nervousness  and  suffering.  For  seven  long,  dreary  years 
loving  members  of  the  family  cared  for  me.  The  doctors 
blistered  my  back  more  than  two  hundred  times,  hypodermic 
injections  were  administered,  and  electricity  applied;  still 
my  suffering  continued,  with  no  hope  of  my  ever  recover- 
ing. The  doctors  admitted  that  medicine  could  not  heal 
me  or  reach  my  case. 

I   was    in   this   hopeless    condition    when    we    heard    of 


TESTIMONIES  OF  HEALING.  83 

Christian  Science  healing-,  and  I  took  the  first  treatment. 
May  3,  1898.  I  felt  a  little  improvement,  and  was  en- 
couraged. After  a  few  weeks'  treatment  in  Christian  Sci- 
ence I  could  be  handled  more  easily  in  bed.  In  June  I 
ate  a  meal  at  the  table, — the  first  time  in  six  years.  In  July 
I  could  walk  in  the  house,  and  on  August  31  I  was  able  to 
lie  straight  in  bed  without  any  pads,  and  on  the  following 
morning  I  got  out  of  bed,  dressed  myself,  and  walked  out 
into  the  room, — something  I  had  not  done  in  years.  The 
same  day  I  walked  across  the  street  and  took  dinner  with  a 
friend.  I  was  soon  able  to  walk  miles  and  not  feel  fatigued. 
In  November  I  took  my  first  ride  in  a  carriage,  and  the 
next  week  went  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  to  visit  my  practitioner. 
I  gained  rapidly,  and  on  Thanksgiving"  Day  returned  home. 
I  steadily  improved,  until  to-day  I  am  as  straight  as  any 
one.  During  my  long  illness  we  could  not  even  have  music 
in  our  home,  but  now  what  a  change!  It  is  seven  years 
since  my  healing,  and  I  am  well  and  able  to  work  ev]ery 
day.  No  words  can  express  my  gratitude  for  Christian 
Science.  I  am  thankful  to  God,  and  thankful  to  Mrs. 
Eddy,  the  Discoverer  and  Founder  of  Christian  Science. 

Miss  Lillie  B.  Chace^  Dayton,  O. 

About  the  year  1893  I  had  a  large  carbuncle  on  my 
back,  which  kept  me  at  home  for  nearly  a  month,  caus- 
ing me  much  suffering  and  my  attending  physician  much 
anxiety  as  to  my  recovery.  From  that  time  until  January 
31,  1897,  I  had  in  all  thirteen  carbuncles  on  various  portions 
of  my  body,  two  of  which  were  on  the  back  of  my  neck.  I 
was  treated  by  six  different  physicians,  all  of  whom  agreed 
in  the  diagnosis  and  gave  me  practically  the  same  treat- 
ment, which  consisted  in  keeping  the  carbuncles  clean  by 
the  use  of  water  and  peroxide  of  hydrogen,  and  burning 
them  out  with  carbolic  acid. 

About  January  20,  1897,  a  very  malignant  one  appeared 
on  the  back  of  my  neck,  and  I  called  on  my  family  physi- 
cian, who  is  now  chief  surgeon  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railroad,  with  headquarters  in  Houston,  Texas,  and  who 
had  treated  me  through  some  two'  or  three  previous  attacks. 
He  stated,  after  it  had  fully  developed,  that  it  was  by  far 


84  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

the  most  malignant  one  I  had  ever  had  and  that  the  most 
heroic  measures  must  be  taken  at  once.  He  proceeded  to 
make  an  incision  and  apply  the  carbolic  acid  and  peroxide 
treatment — as  heretofore  mentioned.  After  two  or  three 
days  it  had  formed  cells  into  which  a  match  dipped  in 
carbolic  acid  could  be  inserted  almost  its  whole  length. 
Under  the  treatment  I  continued  to  grow  worse  and  my 
sufferings  more  intense. 

About  a  week  after  this  doctor  began  to  treat  me,  he  was 
called  away,  and  my  suffering  became  more  unbearable  and 
the  inflammation  more  extended.  For  six  days  I  neither 
slept  nor  ate,  and  after  three  days,  in  which  I  had  received 
no  attention  except  that  given  me  by  my  wife,  and  at  a 
moment  when  the  pain  and  inflammation  were  greatest,  I 
was  prevailed  upon  to  try  Christian  Science.  I  received 
absent  treatment  from  a  practitioner  in  Minneapolis,  Minn., 
and  that  night,  after  she  had  received  my  request  for  aid, 
the  pain  suddenly  ceased  and  I  slept  like  a  child.  The  next 
day  nearly  all  of  the  inflammation  had  disappeared  and 
I  returned  to  my  oflice,  being  completely  healed  a  few  days 
later.  To-day  there  is  hardly  a  sign  of  a  scar  on  the  back 
of  my  neck,  while  those  healed  under  doctors'  treatment  left 
ugly  places. 

At  the  time  of  my  healing  I  knew  nothing  of  Christian 
Science,  had  never  met  the  practitioner,  did  not  believe  in 
God  or  in  any  church  organization,  and  1  asked  for  treat- 
ment under  protest  and  as  a  last  resort,  because  my  physician 
could  not  give  me  any  hope  of  a  preventive  or  of  a  per- 
manent cure.  Since  my  healing  I  have  never  had  another 
carbuncle  and  am  to-day  in  better  health  than  ever  before 
in  my  life.  I  have  since  then  investigated  Christian  Science. 
I  have  given  it  the  very  broadest  test,  and  have  found 
it  to  be  the  most  eflicacious  healing  agency  known,  having 
seen  all  manner  of  disease,  pronounced  incurable  by  the  most 
learned  physicians  and  specialists,  healed  by  its  practice. 

My  wife,  whose  case  was  pronounced  by  nine  physicians 
in  this  city  and  three  in  New  Orleans  as  an  incurable  case 
of  Bright's  disease,  is  in  perfect  health,  made  so  through  the 
understanding  of    Christian    Science.     Her    mother,  now 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  85 

seventy-six  years  of  age,  had  her  hands  drawn  and  fingers 
bent  because  of  rheumatism ;  she  had  also  used  glasses  for 
years.  Her  fingers  and  hands  have  become  perfectly 
straight,  and  she  reads  without  the  aid  of  glasses.  She  is 
physically  in  better  health,  and  moves  more  rapidly  than  she 
did  ten  years  ago. 

Everything  above  written  is  open  to  the  most  critical 
investigation  and  I  am  prepared  to  prove  these  statements 
either  under  oath  or  in  person. 

Stonewall  Bond,  Houston,  Tex. 

During  the  year  1902,  my  little  daughter,  then  just 
learning  to  walk,  developed  a  curve  in  the  right  leg  which 
our  family  physician  said  was  caused  by  a  soft  bone.  We 
took  her  to  the  physician  several  times,  covering  a  period 
of  nine  months,  and  faithfully  followed  his  directions, 
massaging  the  leg  with  strengthening  lotions  and  strictly 
adhering  to  diet  prescribed  to  strengthen  the  bony  structure. 
At  the  end  of  that  time,  the  leg  having  constantly  grown 
worse,  it  was  diagnosed  as  Pott's  disease  of  the  bone,  and 
I  was  told  that  the  only  possible  help  would  be  to  put  the 
leg  in  an  iron  brace. 

Before  consenting  to  this  treatment,  I  was  persuaded  to 
give  Christian  Science  treatment  a  trial,  and  I  called  in  a 
practitioner.  After  a  long  conversation  with  this  lady, 
she  recommended  that  I  try  to  do  the  work  myself,  with 
the  necessary  instruction  which  she  then  gave.  I  took  up 
the  careful  study  of  the  Bible,  and  "Science  and  Health 
with  Key  to  the  Scriptures"  by  Mrs.  Eddy,  of  which 
I  am  still  an  earnest  student.  After  three  weeks'  treatr 
ment,  based  upon  the  understanding  oi  divine  Principle, 
Truth,  the  child  was  absolutely  healed,  and  the  leg  is 
to-day  in  perfect  condition.  The  most  critical  observer 
could  not  tell  which  had  been  the  leg  affected.  From 
that  day  to  this,  we  have  called  upon  no  other  than  the 
Great  Physician. — M.  Elizabeth  Horton,  Bogota,  N.  J. 

About  1889  I  was  operated  upon  for  piles  and  fistula.  I 
was  unable  to  attend  to  business  for  several  weeks  and  suf- 


86  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

fered  intense  pain  during  the  illness.  The  doctor  offered  lit- 
tle hope  of  a  permanent  cure  and  pronounced  the  trouble 
hereditary  from  both  my  father  and  mother.  In  1903  the 
trouble  returned,  and  after  suffering  severely  for  several  days 
I  made  up  my  mind  to  go  to  the  hospital.  My  wife,  how- 
ever, urged  me  to  try  Christian  Science.  I  thereupon  went  to 
a  Christian  Scientist  and  presented  my  case  for  treatment. 
After  the  second  visit  the  trouble  disappeared,  and  the  fol- 
lowing morning  the  growth  came  away  from  my  body  as 
completely  as  if  it  had  been  operated  upon.  The  flesh  at 
the  same  time  had  returned  to  its  normal  condition.  I  was 
so  overcome  with  joy  that  I  ran  immediately  to  tell  my  wife. 
I  suffered  no  pain  after  the  first  treatment  and  only  lost 
one  day  from  business.  I  cannot  express  the  joy  and  grati- 
tude I  felt  at  the  time.  Since  my  first  treatment  in  Chris- 
tian Science  many  other  physical  and  mental  troubles  have 
been  overcome,  and  I  now  know  that  it  is  the  result  of  my 
apprehension  of  the  truth  as  it  is  taught  in  Christian  Science. 
For  the  past  two  years  I  have  been  enjoying  perfect 
health,  and  have  not  been  compelled  to  lose  one  day  from 
business,  as  was  formerly  a  frequent  occurrence. 

Charles  A.  Ryder,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

During  the  month  of  April,  1895,  I  had  the  misfortune  to 
sustain  a  fracture  of  my  left  leg.  The  fracture  was  re- 
duced in  the  usual  way  by  a  local  surgeon,  but  I  was  con- 
fined to  the  house  some  three  months.  A  few  months  after 
my  recovery  I  noticed  that  a  weakness  had  developed  in  this 
limb,  which  was  aggravated  by  much  walking,  and  I  was 
obliged  to  use  a  cane  or  crutch  at  frequent  intervals  in 
order  to  get  about.  This  difficulty  grew  from  bad  to  worse 
until  the  summer  of  1898,  when  I  decided  to  consult  one  of 
the  best  surgeons  in  New  England,  who,  after  making  a 
thorough  examination  of  the  limb,  pronounced  it  a  well- 
developed  case  of  varicose  veins.  He  advised  me  to-  submit 
to  a  surgical  operation,  as  this,  he  emphatically  stated,  was 
the  only  known  remedy.  I  naturally  disliked  to  undergo 
this  ordeal,  and  so  put  the  matter  off  from  week  to  Aveek, 
wearing  an  elastic  stocking  and  going  about  with  crutches 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  87 

and  cane.  At  this  juncture  a  member  of  my  family  sug- 
gested that  I  try  Christian  Science  for  the  trouble.  I  was 
skeptical — knowing  but  very  little  about  this  method  of  heal- 
ing— and  told  them  that  I  did  not  believe  it  could  help  in 
a  case  where  surgery  was  the  only  known  remedy.  After  a 
while,  however,  I  decided  to  try  this  Science,  and  a  local 
practitioner  commenced  treatment.  At  the  end  of  three 
weeks'  time  I  noticed  that  the  elastic  stocking  which  I  had 
been  wearing  was  becoming  loose.  This  was  very  encour- 
aging; so  I  continued  the  treatment,  and  was  thoroughly 
healed  before  the  end  of  the  fall  of  1898.  This  was  nearly 
seven  years  ago,  and  I  have  had  no  return  of  the  trouble. 
In  addition  to  this,  my  general  health,  which  had  been  un- 
dermined to  some  extent  by  the  local  troubles  above  men- 
tioned, has  been  wonderfully  improved.  I  am  over  sixty 
years  of  age  and  weigh  above  two  hundred  pounds,  but  I  can 
walk  long  distances  without  cane  or  crutch  and  with  no  in- 
convenience whatever.  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  make  oath  to 
the  truth  of  these  statements,  and  testify  to  my  gratitude  for 
what  Christian  Science,  without  the  aid  of  drugs  or  any 
other  material  methods,  has  accomplished  in  my  case. 

Wainwright  Gushing,  Foxcroft,  Me. 

In  the  year  1902  I  became  greatly  afflicted  with  a  con> 
plication  of  troubles, — neuralgia  in  the  neck  and  head,  and 
Bright's  disease  of  the  kidneys, — so  diagnosed  after  a  care- 
ful examination  by  one  of  our  leading  doctors,  who  had 
been  our  family  physician  for  some  twelve  years  previous. 
He  had  my  case  in  charge  for  several  months,  and  not  being 
able  to  relieve  me,  advised  my  going  to  the  Hot  Springs. 
I  did  so,  but  returned  after  two  weeks,  feeling  no  better. 
He  then  informed  my  family  that  I  could  not  live  more  than 
three  months. 

It  was  soon  afterwards,  at  the  request  of  my  family,  that 
I  went  to  the  Christian  Science  church  to  seek  aid,  and  was 
advised  to  investigate  the  subject  and  to  take  treatment  of 
a  practitioner.  I  did  so,  and  began  at  once  to  experience 
relief.  I  continued  my  study  of  the  subject,  and  in  the 
course  of  a  month  realized  that  I  was    healed  of    all    my 


88  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

troubles,  including  Bright's  disease.  I  am  now  sixty-nine 
years  old  and  am  in  better  health  than  at  any  time  for  the 
past  forty  years.  I  am  deeply  grateful  for  the  revelation  of 
Christian  -Science  to  this  age  through  Mrs.  Eddy.  All  the 
members  of  my  family  have  experienced  great  help  from 
this  Science. — George  C.  Cockrell,  Omaha,  Neb. 

From  the  effect  of  a  fall  in  1876,  t'he  ligaments  and 
muscles  of  the  entire  left  side  were  partially  paralyzed,  in- 
cluding complete  deafness  and  blindness  in  left  ear  and  eye, 
and  at  times  an  inability  tO'  think,  or  form  sentences.  A 
dislocation  in  the  spinal  column,  between  the  shoulders, 
leaving  a  space  the  size  of  the  ball  of  the  thumb,  caused 
a  drawn  and  disfigured  condition  through  the  shoulders 
and  neck,  and  I  was  unable  to  use  the  right  eye  on  ac- 
count of  intense  pain.  My  liver  was  also  diseased;  an 
abscess  broke  internally,  and  this,  as  the  physician  claimed, 
caused  blood-poison  and  large  external  abscesses.  I  also 
had  uterine  and  bowel  trouble,  and  seemed  to  be  a  general 
wreck,  and  not  one  of  my  physicians  offered  me  a  ray  of 
hope  that  I  might  recover.  For  six  years  I  was  under 
medical  treatment,  tried  two  sanitariums,  magnetic  healing, 
osteopathy,  massage,  Swedish  movement,  sand  and  many 
o^her  kinds  of  baths,  and  for  years  carried  an  electric  battery 
with  me.  Only  temporary  relief  was  ever  secured,  and  from 
first  to  last  physicians  said  it  was  absolutely  useless  to 
expect  medicine  to  restore  me  to  health,  and  their  statement 
was  proved  sadly  true.  Many  times  I  would  lie  for  'hours, 
and  sometimes  days,  unable  to  speak  so  as  to  be  understood. 
For  years  I  spoke  only  in  a  whisper. 

Such  was  my  condition  when  Christian  Science  found  me, 
helpless  and  hopeless,  both  mentally  and  physically.  The 
practitioner  worked  for  me  almost  day  and  night  for  two 
weeks,  and  at  the  end  of  the  third  week  my  case  was  dis- 
missed. I  was  free  from  pain,  and  as  strong  and  active  as 
before  the  injury.  My  sight  and  hearing  were  perfectly 
restored;  I  could  eat  anything  and  as  much  as  I  wanted 
without  the  slighest  inconvenience.  It  took  some  time  to 
fill  out  and  remove  the  traces  of    disease^ — the   emaciated 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  89 

condition  of  the  left  side, — but  there  was  not  a  trace  of  pain 
or  weakness  at  the  end  of  the  third  week.  A  year  later 
the  deformity  of  the  spine  was  suddenly  removed  and  with- 
out pain,  and  I  straightened  up  four  inches.  Tot-day  I  am  a 
strong",  well,  and  happy  woman,  the  result  of  Christian 
Science  understood  and  practised  as  taught  in  its  text-book, 
Science  and  Health  by  Mrs.  Eddy.  I  have  spent  over  eigh- 
teen hundred  dollars  for  medical  treatments,  which  were 
only  failures,  and  my  healing  in  Christian  Science  cost  me 
fifteen  dollars. 

Mrs.  Laura  E.  Evans,  Eureka  Springs,  Ark. 

I  had  hereditary  consumption  of  the  lungs,  and  had 
been  very  frail  and  delicate  all  my  life.  I  was  where 
I  had  no  hope  of  recovery  when  Christian  Science  was 
presented  to  me  by  a  friend  whom  I  knew  had  been 
healed  after  doctors  could  do  no  more  in  the  case.  I  pur- 
chased the  text-book,  "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the 
Scriptures"  by  Mary  Baker  Eddy,  and  was  healed  within 
three  months  by  the  reading  of  this  wonderful  book.  This 
was  a  little  over  nine  years  ago,  and  I  am  stronger  and  in 
better  health  to-day  than  ever  before. 

Mi's.  Nannie  E.  Gatlin,  Hattieshurg,  Miss. 

From  childhood  I  was  afflicted  with  epilepsy,  which  had 
increased  in  severity  through  seventeen  years.  The  at- 
tacks occurred  at  intervals  of  from  two  to  four  weeks,  and 
at  last  they  threatened  my  mind  and  even  my  life.  My 
parents  tried  many  doctors  of  different  schools,  but  without 
permanent  help,  and  they  mostly  pronounced  my  case 
incurable.  Hundreds  of  dollars  were  spent  in  this  manner. 
I  came  to  Christian  Science  a  physical  and  mental  wreck 
and  totally  without  hope.  I  was  completely  cured  in  two 
weeks'  treatment  from  a  Christian  Science  practitioner, 
costing  me  ten  dollars.  This  was  four  years  ago  and  I  have 
never  had  a  symptom  of  the  disease  since.  My  health  is 
excellent,  and  I  have  never  had  need  of  treatment  since,  nor 
have  I  resorted  to  any  kind  of  medicine. 

Miss  Frances  Drury,  Omaha,  Neb. 


go  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND  LEGISLATION. 

I  was  what  is  termed  a  man  of  the  world,  and  about 
fourteen  years  ago  I  found  myself  a  physical  wreck.  I  put 
myself  at  that  time  under  the  care  of  an  allopathic  physician ; 
but  I  gradually  grew  worse,  and  after  about  six  months  I 
went  to  my  family  physician,  a  homoeopath,  who  gave  me 
to  understand  that  the  former  physician  did  not  understand 
my  case  at  all.  I  appeared  to  improve  for  a  while,  until 
my  eyesight  became  affected  and  later  I  found  myself 
with  a  cancer  on  my  tongue.  I  tried  various  treatments 
for  this  trouble  without  avail,  and  life  became  such  a  burden 
to  me  that  I  longed  in  vain  to  pass  away  and  end  my 
sufferings,  which  were  horrible.  I  would  have  helped 
matters  along  by  committing  suicide,  and  but  one  thing 
hindered  me  from  taking  this  step.  My  mother  had  nursed 
me  during  about  four  years  of  this  life,  and  it  came  to  me 
that  the  least  that  I  could  do  in  return  was  to  bear  my  suffer- 
ing as  long  as  she  lived. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  I  should  investigate  Christian 
Science,  which  I  did  largely  through  curiosity,  for  I  never 
believed  in  anything  which  I  could  not  see  and  feel,  and 
regarded  God  as  a  quantity  of  which  I  knew  nothing ;  neither 
did  I  care  to  know  anything  about  Him.  I  began  to  study 
Christian  Science  and  later  on  took  treatment.  After  hav- 
ing worked  my  way  for  a  while  in  this  new-old  thought,  I 
began  to  realize  the  fact  that  Life  as  God  is  all,  and  I  started 
out  to  get  a  right  conception  of  God  and  my  relation  to  Him. 
I  took  treatment  for  a  while,  but  always  felt  that  it  was  up 
to  me  to  work  out  my  problem.  After  about  a  year  I 
found  that  my  ailments  had  all  vanished,  and  the  cancer 
was  actually  healed.  This  was  about  ten  years  ago.  I 
presume  I  have  spent  in  all  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  my  healing  in  Christian  Science,  whereas  I  had 
previously  spent  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars  for  medical 
treatment  with  no  benefit.  I  can  but  feel  grateful  in  the  very 
highest  sense  of  the  word  for  what  Christian  Science  has 
done  for  me.  I  owe  everything  to  Christian  Science  and 
would  express  my  deepest  gratitude  to  Mrs.  Eddy  and  my 
high  appreciation  of  her  love  and  labor  in  making  known  to 
me  a  God  on  whom  I  can  call  in  time  of  need. 

Otto  C.  Nordhoff,  Baltimore^  Md, 


TESTIMONIES  OF  HEALING.  QI 

A  little  more  than  three  years  ago  I  was  stricken  with  what 
is  known  as  locomotor  ataxia.  I  was  attended  by  several  of 
the  best-known  physicians  in  Brooklyn,  among  whom  was 
a  doctor  of  wide  repute  in  the  medical  world.  He  and  the 
others  told  me  frankly  that  medicine  would  have  no  effect 
whatever  upon  my  case,  and  his  advice  was, — "Keep  well 
fed,  and  await  patiently  your  time  of  dissolution." 

Under  such  a  verdict  I  lost  all  hope,  and  my  good  wife 
had  me  placed  in  the  Home  for  Incurables,  at  Fordham, 
N.  Y.  At  this  home,  the  four  attending  physicians  pro- 
nounced mine  a  hopeless  case,  and  gave  me  but  two 
or  three  years,  at  the  longest,  to  live.  Soon  after  en- 
tering this  home,  February,  1904,  I  grew  rapidly  worse, 
and  was  given  up  as  bed-ridden,  when  Christian  Science 
was  brought  to  my  attention  by  a  lady  who  told  m|e 
how  God  could  and  would  restore  me  to  health  and  strength. 
Her  little  talks  proved  wonderfully  effective  in  my  case, 
for  in  a  few  weeks  T  was  enabled  to  sit  in  a  wheel-chair  and 
move  myself  about  the  ward  and  halls  of  the  home.  This 
greatly  amazed  the  doctors,  and  they  said  that  I  would  be 
confined  to  this  wheel-chair  for  the  residue  of  my  mortal 
existence ;  but  the  Christian  Scientist  kept  saying  to  me  each 
time  she  called,  "No,  you  will  soon  be  able  to  attend  services 
at  our  little  church  along  with  your  wife."  This  was  too 
much  for  me  to  appreciate  at  that  time,  and  after  she  left 
I  would  laugh  to  myself  at  what  seemed  an  absurd  remark; 
but  gradually  I  found  myself  growing  stronger  and 
stronger,  and  I  walked  from  one  end  of  the  ward  to  the 
other,  leaning  upon  the  cots  for  support.  Finally,  I  re- 
turned, leaning  hard  upon  the  infinite,  fully  realizing  that  my 
only  hope  was  in  Gk)d,  good,  and  before  I  knew  it  I  was 
ready  to  take  the  long  trip  to  the  "little  church"  as  my 
practitioner  had  predicted  I  would.  The  first  Sunday, 
April  17,  I  shall  not  soon  forget,  and  I  have  been  attending 
the  services  ever  since,  thanks  to  Christian  Science. 

When  first  stricken  by  the  aforenamed  disease,  I  was 
engaged  in  railroad  work;  my  previous  training,  however, 
had  been  for  the  Christian  ministry.  I  am  now  ready  for 
work,  and  anxiously  awaiting  the  opportunity  to  be  up  and 


92  CHRISTIAN   SCIENCE  AND   LEGISLATION. 

doing.     I  will  gladly  answer  all  questions  relating  to  my 
healing  in  Christian  Science. 

B.  C.  Lamplugh,  New  York,  N.  Y. 

After  twenty-eight  years  of  suffering,  during  which  time 
I  was  treated  by  fifteen  different  medical  men,  I  was  healed 
by  Christian  Science.  I  was  first  taken  ill  in  India,  and  a 
change  tO'  England  was  recommended,  but  the  symptoms 
became  more  aggravated,  and  another  change  was  advised. 
I  then  came  to  Texas,  with  the  same  result.  In  San  An- 
tonio I  had  two  operations  performed,  neither  of  which 
gave  me  any  relief.  None  of  the  doctors  were  able  to 
determine  with  exactness  the  nature  of  my  malady,  but  all 
agreed  in  saying  that  the  heart  was  affected,  for  I  used  to 
be  unconscious  for  two  hours  at  a  time,  and  spent  most  of 
the  twenty-eight  years  in  bed.  After  spending  thousands 
of  dollars  in  this  way,  I  was  persuaded  by  a  friend  to  try 
Christian  Science,  and  acting  on  her  advice  I  purchased  a 
copy  of  "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures'* 
by  Mrs.  Eddy,  for  which  I  paid  three  dollars.  I  was  healed 
after  reading  the  book  for  a  few  hours.  My  healing  took 
place  on  the  24th  of  February,  1896,  in  San  Antonio,  where 
I  now  live.  I  have  not  been  confined  to  my  bed  for  a  single 
day  since  that  time,  and  am  now  a  strong,  healthy  woman. 
Mrs.  Marie  M.  Davison,  San  Antonio,  Tex. 

I  have  been  healed  of  intestinal  indigestion  through  the 
reading  of  "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures" 
by  Mrs.  Eddy.  For  more  than  twenty-five  years  I  was  a 
sufferer  from  this  trouble,  which  followed  an  attack  of 
typhoid  fever.  At  times  I  would  be  prostrated  as  a  result 
of  the  intense  pain,  and  was  unable  to  get  any  permanent 
relief  through  the  use  of  material  remedies.  During  this 
time  I  employed  a  number  of  physicians  (twelve,  I  think), 
who  administered  morphine  or  opium,  in  one  form  or  an- 
other, to  relieve  the  pain,  but  they  seemed  unable  to  reach 
the  cause  of  the  difficulty.  This  was  reached  and  over- 
come through  the  understanding  gained  by  reading  Science 


TESTIMONIES  OF  HEALING.  93 

and  Health  some  five  years  ago.     To-day  I  have  no  fear 
as  to  what  I  shall  eat,  and  am  entirelv  free  from  this  trouble. 
F.  C.  HotchkisSj  Stratford^  Conn. 

In  1902  I  found,  after  a  year  of  pain  in  all  parts  of  the 
back  and  stomach,  that  I  v^as  becoming  paralyzed  from  my 
shoulders  down.  All  this  time  I  was  under  the  treatment 
of  physicians,  most  of  whom  were  personal  friends  and  on 
whom  I  could  rely  to  do  all  in  their  power  for  my  better- 
ment, but  I  grew  worse.  Two  diagnosed  the  case  as 
tuberculosis  of  spine ;  two  as  Pott's  disease ;  one  as  curvature 
of  spine.  I  went  to  a  hospital  in  October,  1902,  for  treat- 
ment, and  as  soon  as  I  reached  it  I  grew  much  worse.  I 
remained  there  a1x>ut  six  weeks,  and  came  away  somewhat 
better  but  not  healed.  About  this  time  a  Christian  Science 
friend  of  mine  called,  and  told  me  I  could  be  healed^  and  I 
arranged  to  receive  treatment.  This  was  continued  at  inter- 
vals for  about  ten  weeks,  after  which  I  handled  the  case 
myself,  with  occasional  help  from  the  practitioner.  During 
the  treatment  muscular  convulsions  in  the  lower  part  of  body 
and  limbs  was  overcome. 

I  returned  to  my  duties  April  20,  1903,  and  lost  no  time 
after  that.  My  left  limb  was  over  a  half  inch  shorter  than 
the  right,  but  it  is  now  perfect.  I  have  not  used  any  canes 
or  material  support  of  any  kind  since  September,  1903, 
and  I  now  walk  perfectly  and  with  elasticity.  I  spent  about 
four  hundred  dollars  with  physicians,  and  not  over  seventy- 
five  for  books  and  Christian  Science  treatment. 

John  W.  Hare,  Pittsbur^^  Pa. 

For  ten  years  I  had  been  a  sufferer  from  what  the  physi- 
cians called  Bright's  disease,  and  had  not  had  a  single  night's 
rest  during  this  time  without  taking  a  powerful  drug  to  pro- 
duce sleep.  In  addition  to  this  affliction  I  was  suffering  from 
dyspepsia  and  had  to  be  very  careful  of  my  diet.  I  was 
treated  by  four  of  Cleveland's  most  capable  physicians 
without  receiving  relief.  I  was  compelled  to  give  up  my 
position,  and  upon  the  advice  of  my  doctor  I  spent  six 
months  on  a  farm,  but  returned  to  the  city  no  better  than 
when  I  went  away.  ^ 


94  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE   AND   LEGISLATION. 

During  all  these  years  one  of  my  friends  had  urged  rae 
to  try  Christian  Science,  but  I  refused  and  continued  to 
suffer  until  seven  years  ago  last  May.  When  everything  else 
had  failed,  and  my  doctor  had  dismissed  himself,  saying 
he  could  do  nothing  for  me,  I  applied  for  Science  treat- 
ment, but  without  a  particle  of  faith  that  I  would  be  bene- 
fited. From  the  very  first  treatment  I  improved.  The 
practitioner  told  me  I  might  eat  whatever  I  desired,  and 
this  I  did  without  any  bad  effects.  I  was  also  directed  to 
discontinue  the  use  of  sulphonal,  which  I  was  using  to  pro- 
duce sleep.  I  rebelled  against  this,  as  I  was  certain  that 
without  it  there  would  be  no  rest,  but  when  told  that  treat- 
ment would  be  denied  me  unless  I  obeyed  instructions,  I 
consented.  I  have  never  had  occasion  to  use  a  sleep  pro- 
ducer since  that  time.  I  was  under  treatment  about  six 
weeks,  and  during  that  period  my  ailments  vanished  one 
by  one,  until  I  was  in  perfect  health.  Since  that  time  T 
have  not  been  absent  from  my  business  but  once  on  account 
of  sickness,  and  then  only  a  few  days  la'st  February  with 
the  grip.  As  evidence  that  there  is  not  a  trace  of  Bright's 
disease  in  my  system,  I  have  successfully  passed  the  exam- 
ination for  life  insurance  in  one  of  the  old-time  companies, 
after  a  thorough  microscopical  examination,  although  I  had 
previously  been  rejected  by  two  old-line  companies  on  ac- 
count of  my  kidney  trouble. 

That  the  foregoing  is  true  can  be  vouched  for  by  many 
of  my  friends,  who  thought  I  had  but  a  short  time  to  live, 
and  I  am  quite  willing  to  make  this  statement  under  oath. 

W.  S.  Snyder,  Clez^ eland,  O. 

I  was  a  sufferer  many  years,  and  had  tried  all  manner  of 
remedies,  including  surgery  and  electricity,  until  1883, 
when  my  troubles  culminated  in  consumption.  For  this  T 
was  under  one  physician's  care  three  years.  He  declared 
he  could  not  heal  me,  and  knew  of  no  remedy  which  could 
do  so. 

In  1886,  Christian  Science  was  presented  to  me  as  a 
means  by  which  I  could  be  healed.  I  procured  the  text- 
book, "Science  and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures"  by 


TESTIMONIES  OF   HEALING.  95 

Mrs.  Eddy,  and  with  the  study  of  this  book  and  two  weeks' 
treatment  I  was  healed.  This  treatment  cost  me  fourteen 
dollars.  I  had  paid  out  hundreds  of  dollars  to  physi- 
cians, and  my  parents  had  done  the  same  for  me  before 
I  could  attend  to  my  own  needs,  but  I  was  never  healed  or 
relieved  of  suffering  until  I  had  Christian  Science  treat- 
ment. From  that  time  until  now  I  have  remained  well 
and  have  been  able  to  work  all  the  time.  I  lived  in  La 
Crosse,  Wisconsin,  at  the  time  I  was  healed.  My  residence 
now  is  Sioux  City,  Iowa. 

Clara  Shepard,  Sioux  City,  la. 

It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  give  my  testimony  of  healing 
through  Christian  Science  treatment.  I  was  troubled  with 
what  the  physicians  termed  intestinal  indigestion,  in  the 
form  of  chronic  diarrhoea,  and  with  valvular  heart  trouble. 

Before  trying  Christian  Science,  which  was  in  February, 
1899,  I  had  doctored  continuously  for  three  years.  I  had 
tried  several  physicians  and  a  great  many  remedies  sug- 
gested by  friends,  and  although  I  was  restricted  to  a  very 
simple  diet  I  grew  no  better.  Finally  I  came  to  the  place 
where  I  was  so  weakened  I  could  not  attend  to  my  duties 
more  than  half  the  time,  and  was  unable  to  sleep  nights 
without  opiates.  I  came  to  Christian  Science  with  little 
or  no  faith,  but  I  am  happy  to  say  I  was  completely  healed 
in  two  weeks'  treatment,  and  "have  remained  perfectly  well 
ever  since. 

For  the  two  weeks'  treatment  in  Christian  Science  I  paid 
ten  dollars,  and  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  it  cost  me  five 
hundred  dollars  for  medicine,  doctors,  and  nurses  in  the 
previously  mentioned  three  years. 

Christian  Science  means  much  to  me,  for  through  its 
teachings  I  have  a  better  understanding  of  God  and  my 
relation  to  Him,  and  my  life  has  been  one  of  success  and 
happiness  since  coming  into  it. 

/.  Wesley  Plummer,  Concord,  N.  H. 
Deputy  State  Treasurer  of  New  Hampshire. 

It  is  now  almost  seven  years  since  I  first  turned  to  Chris- 


96  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND   LEGISLATION. 

tian  Science  for  help.  For  eighteen  years  prior  to  that  time 
I  had  not  known  what  it  was  to  be  well.  I  had  had  medical 
treatment  from  some  of  the  best  doctors  in  Renfrew,  Ottawa, 
Montreal,  Calgary,  and  Kingston.  Sometimes  I  would 
feel  better,  but  the  diseases  were  increasing  in  number  and 
intensity,  till  I  was  ordered  to  the  hospital  to  undergo  an 
operation,  although  the  doctors  gave  my  husband  no  hope 
of  a  permanent  cure.  The  doctors  said  I  had  a  disease  of 
the  brain  which  would  grow  worse  and  worse.  It  caused 
me  terrible  suffering  at  times,  in  spite  of  all  they  could  do 
for  me. 

Three  years  before  I  accepted  Christian  Science,  I  was 
operated  on  for  tumor.  The  doctors  said  there  were  two; 
they  removed  one,  but  said  that  an  attempt  to  remove  the 
other  would  prove  fatal,  and  so  it  was  left  till  I  was  healed 
through  the  truth,  in  Christian  Science.  One  of  the  doctors 
who  was  present  at  this  opveration,  when  told  that  I  had  been 
healed  in  Christian  Science,  said,  '*She  is  not  healed,  she 
only  thinks  she  is ;  she  will  find  out  her  mistake  in  less  than 
a  year."  Now  he  acknowledges  that  I  must  have  been 
healed.  Three  doctors  treated  me  for  ulceration  of  the 
womb ;  they  said  I  was  too  weak  to  be  treated  for  this  when 
in  the  hospital,  although  it  then  caused  me  intense  suffering. 
Almost  immediately  after  leaving  the  hospital  I  was  attacked 
by  sciatica,  and  in  spite  of  treatment  from  some  of  our  best 
physicians  it  was  steadily  gaining  ground.  One  of  the 
physicians  ordered  fly-blisters  on  my  hip  and  knee.  The 
flesh  was  thus  made  raw,  to  add  to  my  other  sufferings. 
Ulceration  of  the  stomach  was  added  the  summer  before 
I  came  into  Christian  Science.  During  all  these  weary 
years  my  husband  never  seemed  to  give  up  hope,  but  was 
ready  to  try  any  new  method  of  healing  that  promised  even 
relief.  Friends  urged  me  to  try  Christian  Science,  and  I 
finally  consented,  although  I  could  not  believe  that  their 
prayers  could  be  more  effectual  than  my  own  petitions  for 
health  and  the  prayers  of  my  faithful  pastors. 

However,  I  received  help  before  the  practitioner  left  the 
house,  and  after  two  weeks'  faithful  work,  and  my  earnest 
study  of  the  Bible  and    Science   and   Health,  I   was   able. 


TESTIMONIES   OF   HEALING.  97 

with  the  aid  of  a  stick,  to  attend  my  first  Christian  Science 
meeting-.  I  had  a  practitioner  work  for  me  occasion- 
ally during-  the  next  two  months,  and  I  then  felt  well. 
This  treatment  cost  me  thirty  dollars,  while  I  had  been 
eighteen  years  under  the  care  of  fourteen  different  physi- 
cians at  different  times.  To-day  I  am  a  well  woman,  able 
to  do  my  own  work  and  walk  wherever  I  wish  with  ease  and 
comfort.  Can  any  one  think  it  strange  that  I  thank  God, 
the  giver  of  all  good,  for  this  truth  which  has  changed  my 
darkness  and  suffering  into  light,  harmony,  and  health  ? 

Mary  E.  Reeves,  Kingston,  Ont. 

In  the  year  1896  I  lost  a  child,  fourteen  months  old,  with 
what  the  doctors  called  consumption  of  the  bowels.  In 
IQ03,  my  little  girl,  ten  months  old,  was  taken  with  the  same 
disease.  We  then  called  our  family  physician,  who  at- 
tended her  for  three  months,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he 
informed  me  that  she  could  not  be  cured.  The  child  had 
been  reduced  to  a  skeleton.  On  being  told  one  evening 
that  my  baby  was  in  a  dying  condition,  and  would  probably 
not  live  until  the  next  morning,  I  consented  tO'  try  Christian 
Science,  and  a  practitioner  was  sent  for  at  the  suggestion  of 
my  mother-in-law,  who  had  been  healed  in  Christian  Sci- 
ence. The  child  had  not  closed  her  eyes  for  forty-eight 
hours.  When  the  practitioner  came  she  took  the  little  one 
in  her  arms,  and  assured  me  that  I  had  nothing  to  fear; 
to  go  down  to  my  dinner  and  leave  the  child  with  her.  I 
obeyed,  and  when  I  returned,  about  half  an  hour  later,  my 
baby  was  sleeping  peacefully  and  did  not  awaken  for  four 
hours.  The  next  day  the  improvement  was  so  marked  that 
she  was  taken  out  in  the  front  yard,  and  in  a  week's  time 
our  friends  could  hardly  believe  it  was  the  same  child. 
She  grew  stout,  and  has  since  been  in  perfect  health. 

If  called  upon,  I  shall  be  glad  to  appear  before  a  notary 
public  and  make  affidavit  to  the  above  testimony. 

Mrs.  J.  S.  Haag,  New  Orleans,  La. 


'^     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS. 

An  Unworthy  Measure. 

Bigotry  and  the  latent  spirit  of  persecution  has  so  far 
prevailed  in  the  legislature  as  to  induce  the  members  in 
both  branches  to  pass  a  law  aimed  at  the  practice  of  Chris- 
tian Science.  The  members  of  the  legislature  mean  to  be 
liberal.  They  would  declare  unreservedly  in  favor  of 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  they  revolt  against  the  persecu- 
tions and  outrages  of  the  dark  ages.  Yet  these  people  who 
believe  the  good  Lord  will  answer  their  prayers  literally, 
just  as  he  has  promised,  and  who  are  willing  to  trust  to 
good  morals,  good  habits,  and  correct  living,  rather  than  to 
drugs,  are  so  foolish  and  ridiculous  that  they  ought  to  be 
made  to  practise  what  we  believe  instead  of  being  allowed 
to  follow  the  dictates  of  their  own  conscience. 

Of  course  we  will  not  burn  them  alive,  as  they  used  to  do 
in  such  cases.  It  will  not  be  necessary.  We  will  just 
enact  a  law  and  they  will  obey  the  law.  But  suppose  they 
do  as  the  ancient  martyrs  did.  Suppose  they  refuse  to 
obey  the  law,  and  persist  in  their  foolish  practices.  What 
then  ?  Of  course  the  law  has  a  penalty,  or  it  would  not  be 
of  any  use.  If  these  silly,  unreasonable  Christian  Science 
people  are  so  strong  in  their  faith  that  they  think  they 
ought  to  defy  the  law,  as  Daniel  did,  and  as  thousands  of 
holy  martyrs  have  since  done,  what  will  happen  then? 
Why,  of  course  they  must  expect  to  suffer  the  penalty  of  the 
law  we  have  made  to  bind  their  conscience.  We  will  send 
them  to  prison.  It  will  serve  a  devout  and  gentle  woman 
right  to  go  to  prison  if  she  is  so  silly  as  to  trust  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  for  present  help  in  time  of  need !  W^e  have  no 
intention  of  persecuting  the  Christian  Scientists  as  the  Qua- 
kers, the  Protestants,  the  non-Conformists,  the  Congrega- 
tionalists,  and  the  strict  Conformists  were  persecuted.  Yet 
we  have  passed  a  law  that  will  land  them  in  prison  and  keep 
them  there  if  they  are  half  as  obstreperous  as  was  any  one 
of  the  holy  martyrs  whose  fate  we  deplore  and  whose  per- 
secutors we  detest. 

98 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS.  99 

Perhaps  we  had  better  take  their  Bible  away  from  them, 
so  they  will  forget  God's  promises.  According  to  the  re- 
cent statutes  of  Nebraska,  He  never  intended  to  keep  them 
anyway!  It  only  requires  the  signature  of  the  Governor 
to  make  that  statement  the  law  of  the  State.  If  Christ 
should  come  to  Nebraska  and  do  as  he  did  in  Galilee  nine- 
teen hundred  years  ago,  he  would  be  arrested  and  fined,  and 
if  he  did  not  pay  the  fine  he  would  be  sent  to  prison,  and  we 
could  not  have  the  miserable  consolation  of  shirking  the 
responsibility,  as  Pilate  did,  by  saying,  *'I  find  no  fault  in 
him."  We  would  be  compelled  to  declare  that  he  had  com- 
mitted the  fault  of  breaking  the  law  of  the  commonwealth 
and  was  worthy  of  its  penalties. — York  (Neb.)  Times. 

Christian  Science  in  Nebraska. 

What  the  Nebraska  legislature  proposes  to  do  is  not  en- 
tirely clear,  but  the  despatches  say  that  a  bill  has  been  re- 
ported from  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  which  provides 
that  "it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  attempt  to  cure 
mental  or  physical  ailments,  real  or  imaginary,  for  pay, 
without  first  obtaining  a  license  to  practise  the  'healing  art 
from  the  State  Board  of  Health." 

This  is  called  in  the  despatches  "a  knockout  blow  for 
Christian  Scientists,"  probably  because  the  State  Board, 
being  composed  of  regular  physicians,  will  refuse  licenses 
to  Christian  Science  healers.  That  this  is  the  expectation 
is  likely,  from  the  fact  that  the  bill  was  originated  and 
promoted  by  the  regular  physicians,  who  crowded  the  hall 
of  the  legislature  when  it  was  agreed  upon. 

The  Miner,  without  meaning  to  indorse  Christian  Sci>- 
ence,  characterizes  this  proposed  action  of  the  Nebraska 
legislature  as  oppressive. 

The  Nebraska  Solons  do  not  appear  to  have  noticed  that 
this  bill  will  apply,  if  carried  to  an  ultimate  conclusion,  to 
Christian  ministers  and  to  all  religious  teachers,  if  not  to 
school-teachers  and  managers  of  reformatories,  as  well  as 
to  Christian  Scientists.  There  is  nothing  more  widely  be- 
lieved than  that  sin  and  immorality  are  diseases  of  the 
mind,  that  religion  is  the  cure  for  fhem,  and  that  the  teachers 


lOO  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND   LEGISLATION. 

of  religion  are  the  physicians  who  prescribe  the  cure. 
Under  this  bill,  if  it  becomes  a  law,  every  preacher  in  Ne- 
braska who  preaches  without  a  license  from  the  State  Board 
should  be  arrested. 

The  world  is  exceedingly  tired  of  the  intolerance  of  the 
medical  profession.  We  do  not  deny  the  value  of  medical 
science,  nor  the  great  progress  it  has  made  in  recent  times, 
but  we  do  know  that  it  is  as  changeable  as  the  skies,  and 
that  with  itj  as  much  as  with  any  other  science  whatever, 
'*the  science  of  to-day  is  the  ignorance  of  to-morrow."  A 
profession  which  has  in  turn  pretended  to  cure  everything 
by  bleeding,  by  purging,  by  sweating,  by  cold  water,  by 
allopathy,  by  homoeopathy,  by  eclecticism,  by  antiseptics,  by 
sleeping  out  of  doors,  and  by  orificial  surgery,  is  in  no  posi- 
tion to  say  to  anybody,  "You  are  a  charlatan  and  shall  not 
treat  disease." — Bisbee  (Ariz.)  Evening  Miner. 

A  Word  for  the  Christian  Scientists. 

Quite  a  while  ago  the  habit  of  many  newspapers  of 
poking  fun  at  Christian  Science  went  out  of  fashion.  At- 
tacks on  Christian  Science  because  of  isolated  cases  of 
ignorant  followers  is  now  almost  in  the  same  class  as  perse- 
cution of  the  Jews.  It  is  therefore  the  more  remarkable 
that  a  local  newspaper  seized  upon  the  case  of  a  Whittier  lad 
who  was  treated  by  Christian  Science,  and  whO'  died,  as  the 
basis  for  an  attack  upon  the  faith. 

There  are  followers  of  every  faith  who,  through  igno- 
rance, bring  criticism  upon  themselves,  but  there  is  no 
reason  why  these  individual  cases  should  cause  an  attack 
upon  a  religious  belief.  An  attack  of  this  kind  upon  Chris- 
tian Science  is  just  as  senseless  as  an  outburst  directed 
against  the  Methodist,  the  Presbyterian,  or  the  Catholic 
church  because  a  member  has  gone  wrong. 

This  is  not  a  technical  discussion  of  the  merits  or  de- 
merits of  Christian  Science.  Mrs.  Eddy  says  "Chris- 
tian Science  explains  all  cause  and  effect  as  mental,  .  .  . 
It  shows  the  scientific  relation  of  man  to  God"  (Science 
and  Health,  p.  114).  Can  you  find  anything  so  ter- 
ribly offensive  in  that?     And,  moreover,  it  is  almost  a  sure 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS.  Id 

thing  that  the  newspapers  which  still  continue  to  attack 
Christian  Science  have  never  even  read  that  much  of  Mrs. 
Eddy's  doctrine. 

The  Whittier  incident  may  have  been  one  of  these  cases 
which  are  found  in  every  religion,  or  the  case  may  have  been 
misrepresented  by  the  newspaper.  At  any  rate,  it  simply 
proves  that  we  are  not  so  far  removed  from  our  witch- 
burning  ancestors  as  we  think,  when  we  are  sO'  intolerant  as 
to  ridicule  and  attack  a  belief  which  is  comparatively  new, 
and  which  generally  we  do  not  understand. 

All  religions  have  of  necessity  certain  fixed  characteristics', 
and  each  has  its  inherent  qualities  or  defects.  ''But,"  as 
Wagner's  "Simple  Life"  says,  "if  your  religion  serves  to 
make  you  think  yourself  better  than  others,  quibble  over 
texts,  wear  sour  looks,  domineer  over  other  men's  con- 
sciences or  give  your  own  over  to  bondage,  your  religion  is 
worthless — it  separates  you  from  God  and  man." 

Newspapers  won't  attack  Christian  Science  much  longer. 
They  will  become  educated  and  broad-minded  enough  to 
give  it  as  fair  a  show  as  they  give  other  beliefs.  That  a 
local  newspaper  has  attacked  it  is  simply  the  exception 
to  the  rule  of  tolerance  which  has  given  this  country  all 
good  religious  beliefs  and  accomplished  remarkable  prog-- 
ress  in  the  way  of  education. — The  Los  Angeles  Retard. 

Who  Shall  Judge? 

State  legislatures  are  at  work  grinding  out  the  usual 
season's  grist  of  laws.  Out  in  Nebraska  the  State  law- 
making body  has  delivered  itself  of  one  which  provides :  "It 
shall  be  unlawful  for  any  person  to  attempt  to  cure  mental 
or  physical  ailments,  real  or  imaginary,  for  pay,  without 
first  obtaining  a  license  to  practise  the  healing  art  from  the 
State  Board  of  Health. 

It  is  declared  that  this  is  a  blow  at  Christian  Scientists, 
and  very  likely  that  is  what  it  is  meant  tO'  be,  for  the  State 
Board  of  Health  is  composed  of  and  controlled  by  physi- 
cians, and  every  one  knows  in  what  regard  the  practitioners 
of  medicine  hold  the  cult  called  Christian  Scientists. 


I02  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND   LEGISLATION. 

Without  meaning  to  endorse  Christian  Science,  we  call 
attention  to  what  this  bill  would  lead,  if  followed  to  its  ulti- 
mate conclusion. 

Nothing  is  more  generally  believed  than  that  sin  and 
immorality  are  diseases  of  the  mind,  and  Christian  min- 
isters, school-teachers,  managers  of  reformatories,  and  re- 
ligious and  ethical  teachers  in  many  cases  proceed  upon  this 
theory.  It  is  a  tenet  of  the  Christian  Scientists.  It  will 
be  seen,  therefore,  that  the  blow  is  not  alone  at  Christian 
Scientists,  although  the  State  Board  might  so  apply  it.  But 
if  the  essence  of  the  law  were  applied  without  prejudice  it 
would  apply  to  all  those  mentioned. 

The  dispatches  state  that  this  bill  was  lobbied  through  by 
ph3^sicians  who  openly  stated  that  it  was  aimed  at  the  fol- 
lowers of  Mrs.  Eddy.  The  world  does  not  deny  the  value 
of  medical  science  and  every  one  knows  what  great  strides 
it  has  recently  made.  But  the  Nebraska  doctors  could  be 
in  better  business.  The  intelligence  of  the  people  is  suffi- 
cient to  guard  themselves.  They  do  not  need  the  protect- 
ing arms  of  the  law  in  this  regard.  Furthermore,  when  one 
considers  that  in  the  name  of  medicine  horrible  tortures 
have  been  inflicted  needlessly  and  to  the  harm  of  the  sick, 
and  that  which  is  believed  to  be  the  correct  remedy  to-day 
and  universally  commended  is  as  generally  condemned  to- 
morrow, what  with  hot  water  to-day  and  cold  water 
to-morrow,  allopathy  this  year  and  homoeopathy  next  year, 
purging  and  then  sweating,  ice  compresses  one  moment 
and  hot-water  bags  the  next,  it  would  seem  that  the  medi- 
cal men  are  not  now  in  a  position  to  dictate  in  this  regard. 

Glens  Falls  (N.  Y.)  Post. 

Considerate  Attention. 

Perhaps  the  public  may  have  noted  that  the  opposition  to 
Christian  Science,  which  was  very  much  in  evidence  a  few 
years  ago,  is  dying  out. 

Worldly  as  a  majority  of  our  people  may  be,  they  have 
been  quick  to  recognize  the  goodness  which  is  in  the  new 
cult.     There  is  nothing  in  Christian  Science   which   would 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS.  *  IO3 

suggest  imposition.  Faith  is  the  foundation  of  the  behef 
which  has  Mrs.  Eddy  as  its  chief  exponent.  Those  who 
accept  this  good  woman's  teachings  Hve  pure  and  upright 
lives.  As  pious  as  the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  the  Christian  Sci- 
entists are  more  Hberal  than  those  pioneers  of  rehgion  in 
the  New  World. 

Since  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
given  to  freemen,  our  people  have  held  that  all  men  are  ''en- 
dowed by  their  Creator  with  certain  unalienable  rights," 
among  which  are  "life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." As  men  and  women  are  happy  in  their  religion,  any 
belief  which  contributes  toward  the  happiness  of  the  world 
must  at  least  receive  the  considerate  attention  of  the  Ameri- 
can public. — Albany   (N.  Y.)  Press-Knickerbocker. 

An  Unjust  Law. 
There  has  been  introduced  in  the  Oregon  legislature  a  bill 
compelling  parents  and  guardians  to  employ  doctors  of  some 
school  of  medicine  in  case  of  sickness  in  their  families.  The 
law  excepts  osteopaths,  who  use  no  medicine.  The  law  was, 
no  doubt,  inspired  by  the  doctors  and  aimed  directly  at 
Christian  Science  practice.  Osteopaths  use  no  medicine, 
neither  do  Christian  Scientists,  but  the  reliance  for  success  is 
widely  different.  The  doctors  were  willing  to  concede  to 
the  osteopaths  a  place  in  their  ranks,  but  would  not  recognize 
the  Christian  Scientist  practitioner,  who  relies  upon  an  un- 
derstanding of  man's  relation  to  divine  Love  for  his  cures  in- 
stead of  merely  punching,  pinching,  and  kneading  the  body 
of  the  helpless  sick.  If  the  law  would  provide  for  severe 
penalties  in  case  a  medical  doctor  failed  to  cure,  there  might 
be  some  sense  in  the  law  interfering  with  the  people's  rights 
of  self-government.  The  legislature  of  Oregon  will  not  pass 
a  law  of  such  distinct  class  legislation,  neither  should  it. 

Post  Falls  (Idaho)  Advance. 

Governor  Mickey  of  Nebraska  has  vetoed  the  bill  passed 
by  the  legislature  of  that  State,  forbidding  Christian  Sci- 
ence healers  from  engaging  to  heal  the  sick  in  that  State 


I04  CHlRISTIAN    SCIENCE   AND   LEGISLATION. 

unless  they  had  taken  a  four-years  medical  course  and 
had  a  license  to  practise  medicine  in  Nebraska.  In  veto- 
ing the  bill  Governor  Mickey  seems  to  be  in  pretty  good 
company,  for  thirty- eight  States  in  the  Union  have,  since 
1898,  undertaken  legislation  along  this  same  line,  and  in 
each  of  them  the  measure  has  either  been  defeated,  or 
amended  so  as  to  exclude  Christian  Scientists,  or  vetoed 
by  the  governor.  In  most  cases  the  enactment  of  these 
laws  has  not  been  demanded  by  public  sentiment,  but  has 
been  inspired  by  the  medical  fraternity,  and  it  is  interesting 
to  note  that  legislators,  governors,  and  courts  have  stood 
between  the  medical  fraternity  and  the  constitutional  rights 
of  the  Christian  Scientist. 

There  are  all  sorts  of  views  of  the  Christian  Science 
sect — from  the  one  which  declares  the  doctrine  a  mild 
sort  of  insanity  to  that  which  believes  it  competent  to  cure 
every  ill  to  which  the  flesh  is  heir.  It  is  not  for  the  Argons- 
Leader  to  enter  this  controversy.  It  would  be  an  invita- 
tion to  an  intemiinable  controversy  which  could  do  no 
good,  and  in  which  we  candidly  confess  we  might  easily 
get  worsted.  It  may  be  said,  however,  that  Christian 
Science  is  not  a  system  of  medicine,  but  is  a  religion,  and 
it  is  not  the  business  of  the  State  to  interfere  with  the 
practices  of  religion  so  long  as  these  practices  do  not  harm 
the  State  or  injure  innocent  persons.  The  law  does  not 
compel  a  Methodist  or  a  Congregationalist  to  call  a  sur- 
geon when  some  one  else  thinks  a  surgeon  is  needed.  It 
allows  the  individual  to  pick  out  his  own  kind  of  medical 
treatment.  It  simply  says  that  men  who  profess  to  have 
studied  medicine  shall  have  actually  done  so  and  shall  be 
able  to  pass  a  competent  examination.  This  is  to  protect 
the  public  against  imposition.  The  man  who  believes  in 
medicine  wants  a  practitioner  who  understands  it,  and 
the  law  tries  to  protect  him  from  imposition. 

But  the  Scientist  does  not  believe  in  medicine.  He  be- 
lieves that  human  ills  can  be  cured  by  prayer.  He  may 
be  wrong.  He  is  sure  he  is  right.  It  is  an  unsafe  busi- 
ness for  the  State  to  undertake  to  decide.  So  far  the  Sci- 
entists have  largely  the  better  of    the  legal    phase  of    the 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS.  IO5 

controversy,  and  the  indications  are  that  repressive  legis- 
lation of  this  sort  will  not  much  longer  be  attempted. 

Sioux  Falls  (N.  D.)  Argus-Leader. 

The  proposed  law  (vetoed  by  Governor  Mickey)  was  an 
anomaly.  It  did  not  directly  prohibit  the  practice  of  Chris- 
tian Science  healing  in  Nebraska,  but  it  aimed  to  bring 
about  that  object  indirectly  by  requiring  that  so-called 
healers  should  take  a  four-years  medical  course  before  being 
allowed  to  practise  in  the  State.  Of  course  nO'  consistent 
Christian  Scientist  w^ould  do  that.  The  basic  teaching  of 
the  faith  is  that  medicines  are  useless  and  that  errors  of 
the  flesh  can  be  cured  by  divine  Mind  alone.  In  its  practical 
application,  then,  the  law  would  mean  that  the  Chris- 
tian Scientist,  who  of  necessity  has  no  confidence  in  medi- 
cine, could  not  enlist  the  services  of  a  fellowi-believer  in  an 
effort  to  effect  a  cure  in  the  only  way  both  believed  feasi- 
ble. It  is  easy  to  see  that  there  would  be  no  utility  in  such 
restriction,  to  say  nothing  of  its  probable  unconstitution- 
ality, as  interfering  with  individual  liberty.  A  law  requir- 
ing that  in  case  of  sickness  every  person  who  was  taken  ill 
must  "send  for  an  allopathic  or  a  homoeopathic  physician, 
would  be  only  a  degree  more  absurd.  The  subject  is  such 
a  delicate  one  that  the  legislators  may  w^ell  let  it  alone.  If 
Christian  Science  is  a  mild  form  of  insanity,  then  the  State 
ought  to  take  care  of  its  members  just  as  is  done  with  other 
persons  who  are  believed  to  be  capable  of  harming  them- 
selves or  others.  If  Christian  Scientists  are  sane,  they 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  look  after  their  own  affairs,  if  by 
doing  so  they  are  not  injuring  the  community  at  large  or 
forcing  their  methods  upon  helpless  persons.  The  in- 
dividual who  is  afilicted  with  disease  is  allowed  to  exercise 
his  own  option  as  to  whether  he  shall  take  the  nasty  medi- 
cines prescribed  by  the  doctors  or  whether  he  shall  submit 
to  the  surgeon's  knife  in  an  effort  to  effect  a  cure.  It  is 
'not  a  serious  enlargement  of  personal  liberty  to  allow  the 
individual  to  make  the  same  decision  with  reference  to  so- 
called  mental  healing. — Sioux  City  (la.)  Journal, 


I06  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE   AND   LEGISLATION. 

Governor  Mickey's  course  should  be  commended,  and 
the  action  of  the  legislature  condemned.  There  is  alto- 
gether too  much  legislation  of  this  sort,  prompted  by 
narrowf-niinded  intolerance  and  religious  or  moral  bigotry. 
It  is  about  time  that  a  man  has  a  right  to  his  own  opinions, 
no  matter  what  they  may  be,  and  the  right  to  do  what  he 
pleases,  so  long  as  he  does  not  interfere  with  the  equal 
rights  of  other  men. 

Christian  Science  is  a  religion,  and  as  such  is  protected 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  And  quite. apart 
from  the  legal  rights  afforded  by  the  Constitution,  the  fact 
that  people  honestly  believe  in  it  is  sufficient  reason  why  its 
followers  should  be  unmolested. 

Of  course  it  is  claimed  by  opponents  that  Christian  Sci- 
ence is  opposed  to  medical  knowledge;  but  what  is  medical 
knowledge  ?  There  is  no  such  thing.  There  is  not  a  single 
disease,  not  even  of  the  simplest  nature,  that  a  regular 
practitioner  is  certain  of  curing  by  means  of  his  drugs. 
It  is  highly  questionable  whether  diseases  are  cured  by 
modern  drugs  any  better  than  they  were  cured  by  drugs 
used  in  Egypt  and  Greece,  drugs  which  no  physician  would 
think  of  using  to-day.  ...  If  a  man  desires  to  be  treated 
by  Christian  Science  methods,  'he  has  a  right  to  be,  and  no 
legislature  or  tyrannical  majority  of  men  has  any  right  to 
prevent  him  from  receiving  such  treatment. 

Christian  Science  has  cured  diseases.  Probably  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  it  cures  as  many  of  them  as  any  theory 
of  medical  treatment  has  done.  It  is  certainly  an  interest- 
ing experiment,  and  nO'  one  but  a  narrow-minded  bigot  will 
desire  to  see  it  suppressed.  Every  honest  experimenter 
should  be  given  a  chance  to  show  what  he  can  do,  and  this 
is  all  that  the  Christian  Scientist  demands. 

Portland  (Ore.)  Telegram. 

Some  two  weeks  since  the  Patriot  offered  a  brief  editorial 
comment  on  a  bill  then  pending  in  the  Nebraska  legislature, 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  prevent  the  practice  of  healing 
by  Christian  Science  methods  and  to  check  the  rapid  growth 
and  development  of  Christian  Science  religion  in  that  State. 


EDITORIAL  COMMENTS.  IO7 

Th€  bill  passed  both  houses,  but  was  vetoed  by  Governor 
Mickey,  and  the  argument  he  offered  in  support  of  his 
position  will  prove  interesting  reading  to  the  people  of 
New  Hampshire. 

The  conclusion  of  Governor  Mickey,  that  the  bill  *'was 
conceived  in  a  spirit  of  intolerance,"  is  especially  noteworthy 
because  it  locates  and  defines  the  motive  behind  all  such 
attempted  legislation. 

There  is  a  tendency  among  those  who  have  once  had 
their  business  recognized  by  law  and  custom,  to  appeal  to 
the  law  and  to  sentiment  to  protect  them  and  their  business 
against  all  newcomers,  even  though  the  ways  of  the'new- 
comers  may  be  infinitely  better. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  out  of  every  one  hundred  such  bills 
as  that  introduced  in  the  Nebraska  legislature,  ninety-nine 
of  them  were  inspired  by  physicians  who  imagined  they  saw, 
in  the  spread  of  Christian  Science  thought,  a  menace  to 
their  business.  That  is  the  whole  thing  briefly  told,  and 
Governor  Mickey  laid  the  condition  bare. 

The  Daily  Patriot,  Concord,  N.  H. 

If  the  courts  listen  to  the  devotees  of  any  given  school 
of  physicians,  nothing  short  of  the  services  of  such  a  physi- 
cian will  answer  the  requirements  of  the  law.  The  ho- 
moeopath, the  eclectic,  the  electric,  the  magnetic,  and  possibly 
even  the  allopathist  himself,  may  all  be  guilty  of  man- 
slaughter, if  the  prejudices  of  t'he  community  are  to  be 
allowed  to  determine  what  is  and  what  is  not  proper  medical 
treatment. 

If,  therefore,  any  person  believes  that  prayer  will  be 
efficacious  in  his  case,  and  that  drugs  will  not  do  him  any 
good,  will  not  the  legislature  deprive  him  of  the  proper 
means  to  secure  his  recovery,  should  it  provide  that  his 
friends  be  fined  or  sent  to  jail,  in  the  event  of  his  death,  be- 
cause they  did  not  provide  what  some  one  else  t'hinks  is 
proper  medical  treament,  during  his  sickness  ? 

Portland  (Me.)  Express. 

If  Christian  Science  is  meritorious  it  has  equal  right  with 


io8 


CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND   LEGISLATION. 


Other  beliefs  to  exist.  If  it  is  without  merit  it  will  die  out 
of  its  own  inherent  weakness.  In  either  view  gf  the  case 
there  is  no  call  for  legislation  concerning  it.  The  recur- 
rent demand  that  legislatures  shall  ''regulate"  the  affairs 
of  the  people  breaks  out  at  every  session  of  State  legislatures 
and  of  Congress. — Omaha  (Neb.)   World-Herald. 

Many  of  the  best  thinkers  of  the  day  are  turning  to 
Christian  Science,  and  it  numbers  among  its  adherents  tens 
of  thousands  of  men  and  women  in  every  walk  of  life.  Its 
growth  has  been  phenomenal.  Its  work  for  humanity  is 
far-reaching,  and  one  cannot  afford  to  lightly  criticise  a 
religion  that  numbers  among  its  followers  men  of  high 
literary,  social,  diplomatic,  theological,  educational,  medici- 
nal, scientific,  and  religious  standing. 

It  is  no  "fad.'*  Life-long  invalids — chronic,  nervous, 
mental,  organic,  and  every  known  disease  tO'  which  flesh  is 
heir — have  been  cured,  drunkards  reformed,  morphine  fiends 
lifted  out  of  despair,  sinners  reformed,  and  one  is  most 
ignorant  of  facts,  and  misjudgingly  or  intentionally  deceives 
the  public  and  himself,  who  does  not  recognize  the  good 
that  is  being  done  by  this  great  truth  of  the  ages. 

Wyandotte  (Mich.)  Record. 

Every  now  and  then  some  person  takes  a  fling  at  Chris- 
tian Science,  the  reflection  or  criticism,  as  the  case  may  be, 
often  being  made  through  thoughtlessness  or  misinforma- 
tion. One  of  the  best  evidences  that  there  is  something 
solid  and  meritorious  in  Christian  Science  is  the  fact  that 
many  splendid  men  and  women  profess  the  faith.  It  is 
true  in  this  city,  and  as  true  elsewhere,  and  thus  the  con- 
siderate are  compelled  to  pause  and  reflect. 

Pueblo  (Col.)  Indicator. 


APPENDIX. 

Exhibit  Showing  Unsuccessful  Attempts  to  Obtain 
Legislation  against  Christian  Science.  (Compiled 
September  i,  1905.) 

Arkansas.     1901 :  Bill  defeated. 

California.  1901 :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian 
Science  and  passed.      1903 :  Bill  defeated. 

Colorado.  1899:  Bill  vetoed  by  Governor  Thomas. 
T901 :  Bill  defeated.  1903:  Bill  vetoed  by  Governor  Pea- 
body.  1905 :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian  Science 
and  passed. 

Delaware.  In  1905  a  bill  to  amend  the  medical  laws  of 
the  State  was  introduced  at  the  instance  of  the  medical 
doctors,  which  contained  a  clause,  voluntarily  inserted  by 
them,  as  follows :  "Provided  that  nothing^  in  this  section 
shall  be  construed  to  apply  to  the  administration  of  domestic 
or  family  remedies  in  cases  of  emergency,  or  to  dentists  or 
dental  surgeons,  or  to  surgeons  of  the  United  States  Army 
or  Navy  in  the  discharge  of  their  official  duties,  or  to  any 
person  who  administers  to  or  treats  the  sick  or  suffering  by 
mental  or  spiritual  means,  without  the  use  of  any  drug  or 
material  remedy."  This  bill  was  passed  by  the  House  of 
Representatives,  but  was  afterward  withdrawn,  owing  to 
opposition  by  opticians  to  other  parts  of  the  bill. 

Florida.  1901 :  Bill  defeated.  1903 :  Bill  defeated 
1905 :  Bill  defeated. 

Idaho.     1900:  Bill  defeated. 

Illinois.  1899:  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian  Sci- 
ence and  passed.     1903:  Bill  defeated. 

Indian  Territory.  1904:  Bill  amended  favorably  to 
Christian  Science  and  passed  (by  Congress). 

Kansas.  1901 :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian  Sci- 
ence and  passed. 

Kentucky.  1904:  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian 
Science  and  passed. 

Louisiana.     1904:  Bill  defeated. 

109 


no  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND    LEGISLATION. 

Maine.  1905  :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian  Sci- 
ence and  passed. 

Maryland.  1900:  Bill  withdrawn.  1902:  Bill  amended 
favorably  to  Christian  Science  and  passed. 

Massachusetts.      1898:  Bill  defeated. 

Michigan.  1897:  Bill  defeated.  1899:  Bill  amended 
favorably  to  Christian  Science  and  passed.  1905  :  Bill  witlv 
drawn. 

Minnesota.      1899:   Bill  defeated. 

Missouri.  In  1905  a  bill  of  the  class  described  on  page 
43  was  introduced.  The  committee  to  which  it  was  re- 
ferred reported  a  substitute  containing  the  following  clause : 
^'Provided,  however,  that  nothing  in  this  act  shall  be  con- 
strued to  prohibit  any  person  who  ministers  to  or  treats  the 
sick  or  suffering  by  spiritual  means  without  the  use  of  any 
drug  or  material  remedy."  The  session  of  the  legislature 
closed  before  the  substituted  bill  was  reached  for  further 
consideration. 

Nebraska.     1905  :  Bill  vetoed  by  Governor  Mickey. 

New  Hampshire.     1903:  Bill  defeated. 

New  York.  1894:  Two  bills  defeated.  1898:  Bill  de- 
feated.     1901 :  Bill  defeated. 

North  Carolina.  1903 :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Chris- 
tian Science  and  passed. 

North  Dakota.  1901 :  Bill  defeated.  1903:  Bill  de- 
feated.    1905  :  Bill  defeated. 

Oklahoma.     1901 :  Bill  defeated. 

Oregon.     1899:  Bill  defeated.      1905  :  Two  bills  defeated. 

Pennsylvania.  1901 :  Bill  defeated.  1903  :  Bill  defeated. 
1905 :  Bill  defeated. 

Rhode  Island.  1887:  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Chris- 
tian Science  and  passed.  1899:  Bill  amended  favorably  to 
Christian  Science  and  passed. 

South  Dakota.     1905  :  Bill  defeated. 

Tennessee.  1901 :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian 
Science  and  passed. 

Texas.  1901 :  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian  Sci- 
ence and  passed.  1903:  Bill  defeated.  1905:  Bill  de- 
feated. 


APPENDIX.  Ill 

Utah.     1905  :  Bill  defeated. 

Washington.     1905 :  Two  bills  defeated. 

West  Virginia.  1903 :  Bill  defeated.  1905 :  Bill  de- 
feated. 

Wisconsin.  1899:  Bill  amended  favorably  to  Christian 
Science  and  passed. 

Note. — In  this  exhibit  a  bill  is  referred  to  as  having  been 
defeated  when  it  was  finally  defeated  or  ended  by  the 
action  of  either  a  legislative  committee  or  the  legislative 
assembly.  An  amendment  is  referred  to  as  having  been 
favorable  to  Christian  Science  where  the  wording  of  the 
original  bill  was  finally  changed  so  as  not  to  affect  or  apply 
to'  the  practice  of  Christian  Science. 

Exhibit  Showing  where  the  Laws  Regulating  the 
Practice  of  Medicine  Expressly  Except  Christian 
Science  either  by  Name  or  by  General  WbRDS 
Plainly  Including  the  Practice  of  Christian 
Science.     (Compiled  September  i,  1905.) 

Colorado.     Law  quoted  on  page  35. 

Connecticut.  "But  this  chapter  shall  not  apply  to  .  .  . 
Christian  Science,  nor  to  any  person  who  does  not  use  or 
prescribe  in  his  treatment  of  mankind,  drugs,  poisons,  medi- 
cines, chemicals,  or  nostrums." 

Note. — This  clause  was  inserted  in  the  original  bill 
by  the  judiciary  committee  at  the  instance  of  a  homoeopathic 
physician,  and  no  one  objected  to  the  amendment. 

Illinois.  'This  act  shall  not  apply  to  .  .  .  any  person 
who  ministers  to  or  treats  the  sick  or  suffering  by  mental 
or  spiritual  means  without  the  use  of  any  drug  or  material 
remedy." 

Indian  Territory  (by  act  of  Congress).  "And  provided 
further  that  .  .  .  Christian  Science  .  .  .  shall  not  be  af- 
fected by  this  act." 

Kansas.     Law  quoted  on  pag;e  31. 

Kentucky.  "But  this  act  shall  not  apply  to  the  practice 
of  Christian  Science." 

Maine.  "The  seven  preceding  sections  shall  not  apply 
to  ,  .  .  persons     practising  .  .  .  Christian     Science,     so- 


112  CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE    AND    LEGISLATION. 

called,  or  any  other  method  of  heahng  if  no  poisonous  or 
dangerous  drugs  are  employed  or  surgical  operations  per- 
formed:  provided  such  .  .  .  persons  do  not  violate  any  of 
the  provisions  of  the  preceding  section  in  relation  to  the 
use  of  'M.D.'  or  the  title  of  doctor  or  physician." 

Michigan.  "This  act  shall  not  apply  tO'  .  .  .  those  who 
do  not  use  material  remedies,  but  confine  themselves  to 
religious,  mental,  or  spiritual  influences  in  the  treatment  of 
diseases." 

New  Hampshire.  "Neither  shall  the  provisions  of  this 
act  apply  to  Christian  Science." 

North  Carolina.  "Provided  that  this  act  shall  not  apply 
to  any  person  who  ministers  to  or  cures  the  sick  or  suffering 
by  prayer  to  almighty  God  without  the  use  of  any  drug  or 
material  means." 

Tennessee.  "And  this  act  shall  not  apply  ...  to  Chris- 
tian Scientists." 

Texas.  "Provided  that  the  provisions  of  this  act  do  not 
apply  to  persons  treating  disease  who  do  not  prescribe  or 
give  drugs  or  medicines." 

Note. — For  the  occasion  and  validity  of  such  exceptions, 
see  pages  35  and  43. 


^     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


PERIODICALS  published  by   THE    CHRIS- 
TIAN SCIENCE  PUBLISHING  SOCIETY 

250  Huntington  Ave.,  Boston,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 
THE   CHRISTIAN    SCIENCE  JOURNAL 

PUBLISHED  ON  THE  FIRST  OF  EACH  MONTH 

Founded  in  April,  1883,  by  the  author  of  "Science  and  Health  with 
Key  to  the  Scriptures,"  Mary  Baker  G.  Eddy,  Discoverer  and 
Founder  of  Christian  Science. 

This  monthly  magazine  is  the  official  organ  of  The  First  Church 
of  Christ,  Scientist,  in  Boston,  Mass.,  and  correctly  represents  the 
Christian  Science  movement 

It  contains  interesting  discussions  of  the  teaching  and  the  prac- 
tice of  Christian  Science,  and  in  addition  to  dissertations,  lectures, 
and  contributed  articles,  publishes  always  a  number  of  reports  from 
cases  of  spiritual  and  physical  healing,  which  practically  illustrate 
the  redemptive  work  of  Christian  Science. 

Terms  of  Subscription :  Payable  in  advance,  postage  free,  to  any  part  of  the  United 
States,  Canada,  or  Mexico,  Two  Dollars  per  annum;  One  Dollar  for  six  months; 
Single  Copies,  Twenty  Cents;  Foreign  Subscription,  $2.40  per  annuna;  $1.30  for 
six  months. 

CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  SENTINEL 

PUBLISHED  EVERY  SATURDAY 
A  weekly  newspaper  for  the    home,  containing   news  items    of 
general  interest,  and  contributed  and  selected  articles,  testimonies  of 
healing,  and  timely  editorials  in  connection  with  the  Christian  Science 
movement. 

Subscription  Price:  $1.00  per  year.  On  sale  at  3  cents  per  copy,  postpaid.  Foreign 
Subscription,  $1.50. 

DER  HEROLD  DER  CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE 

A  monthly  magazine  printed  in  German,  which  publishes  original 
and  translated  articles  bearing  upon  Christian  Science,  and  also 
testimonies  of  healing  from  Germany  and  America. 

It  contains  about  thirty-eight  pages  of  reading  matter,  and  is  valu- 
able as  an  authorized  representative  of  the  movement. 

Subscription  Price:  For  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  Mexico,  $1.00  in  advance; 
all  other  countries,  $1.25, 

The  christian  SCIENCE  QUARTERLY 

PUBLISHED  JANUARY,  APRIL,  JUL  K,  and  OCTOBER 

Contains  the  Lesson-Sermons  which  are  read  at  the  Sunday  Ser- 
vices throughout  the  year  in  all  the  Christian  Science  Churches. 
These  lessons,  which  present  citations  from  the  Bible  and  "  Science 
and  Health  with  Key  to  the  Scriptures,"  are  valuable  for  daily  study. 

Subscription  I^ice:  One  copy,  one  year,  postpaid,  50  cents;  15  cents  per  copy. 
Foreign  Subscription,  one  copy,  one  year,  60  cents. 


or  THE     "*^^    ^ 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1,00  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


FEB  13   1936 


SEP     7  1943 


MAYn 


^•fi  1  1^ 


slUtl-Q- 


49^ 


1947 


...-0 


pt 


tixw 


233U^ 


,,n^,?^ 


4^iat.e4iv. 


27May'54CC 


LIBHARY  USE 


AUG  2  G  ;£-? 


REC'D  LD 


^Wfr 


^Jm4sB 


f^EC'D  LD  ^ 


^flN16*64-iPi 


160ct'b4Sp 


RECD  LD 


^»^    yC5-4PM 


^^M4fi*t 


FEB  2  3  1976 


uci 


MB.  cm     Htt    17S 


MOV  19  1976 


26  195  7  ^^"'^•^^"^^    ' 


LD  21-100m-7 '33 


'  D    O  I  U  I  O 


■^. 


